


Shine On

by RabbitTankSparkling



Category: Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, F/F, F/M, Found Family, Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Multi, Occasional Dysphoria, Other Content Warnings at the Start of Every Chapter, Polyamory, Trans Character, Trans Female Character, Transgirl Akira Kurusu, mostly through folding the royal content more tightly into the main story, there's a lot of different stuff here, this is not just a rewrite of p5r with a transgirl protag, trans author
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-08
Updated: 2021-02-20
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:54:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 12
Words: 83,199
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24613366
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RabbitTankSparkling/pseuds/RabbitTankSparkling
Summary: It’s said the same game can have a thousand outcomes, and the slightest tweak of circumstances can radically alter that outcome.Akiza Kurusu has, time and again, lost her place in the world. First, for being trans. Then, for reaching out to a stranger. And, most recently, by discovering the world formed by human hearts. Time marches on, and forces beyond imagination threaten to unravel the world as she knows it. Only by opening her wounded heart to her comrades and daring to let them be more than that can she hope to survive and grow.
Relationships: Akechi Goro/Kurusu Akira, Akechi Goro/Phantom Thieves of Hearts, Kurusu Akira & Morgana, Kurusu Akira/Okumura Haru, Kurusu Akira/Sakamoto Ryuji/Takamaki Ann, Polythieves
Comments: 137
Kudos: 248





	1. In the Flesh?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content Warning: Mild dysphoria (briefly)  
> Today's Chapter Title: [In the Flesh?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLFwTqdsuxw_blank)

Recess had always been a strange time of day. 

Roughhousing and playing games with the boys was always unappealing, and whatever the girls were up to, it never included the child with messy dark hair and glasses. Recess usually became an act of wandering around the schoolyard, idly kicking rocks across the blacktop with hands shoved into pockets.

It was calming, lonely as it might have been sometimes.

Then, one day, a new boy came to school. One with tawny brown hair just as shaggy as that of the child with glasses. He, too, ran the same routine at recess for a few days, until he was approached by his dark-haired counterpart.

“Wanna play?”

* * *

_4/9_

A soft chime pulled the girl out of her memories, a comfortable distraction on the train that had grown steadily more crowded as the hours passed. Time spent daydreaming meant losing out on the sight of green countryside turning to something else. The vertical tangle of glass and concrete past the windows now felt equal parts promising and oppressive.

No matter how unfamiliar it was, the city was far away from home. Fingers crossed, it might even be better.

“Ladies and gentleman, thank you for riding with us today,” said an announcer. “We will be arriving in Shibuya shortly…”

The density of foot traffic was more than she’d been expecting. It was nearly shoulder to shoulder getting up the stairs and out the train platform before the sidewalk opened out to Shibuya central square. Finally, there was time to breath in the fresh-ish air and stretch as much as she was comfortable with while still mixed into a crowd. Her eyes cast around to the place where every TV show seemed to visit at least once, and felt a bit like a tourist. Pulling free her phone for information on the next interchange to take, she felt a head rush coming on.

_Probably the start of another headache,_ the girl thought, rubbing at her temple with a spare hand. They’d been getting more frequent with the new medication and now and again she could swear she saw spots. Sometimes they even happened to form odd shapes. Until the moments passed, it came to be like some sort of weird, morbid cloud watching, picking out shapes and forms in the dark patches. Shaking her head gently, she looked back down at the screen to find that the persistent malware app had popped back up. The non-functional red and black icon hovered dead center, before being flicked into the ‘delete’ field for the third time that week.

_Annoying._

It didn’t actually take that long to find the Yongen line. Only six minutes, but after the first four, it had begun to feel like the Tokyo metro had been deliberately designed to confuse her. As the doors hissed shut, she couldn’t help thinking of it as the last leg of the journey to her new life.

* * *

The backstreets of Yongen were a far cry from the skyscraper-laden hustle of Shibuya. The crowds were noticeably thinner here, nearly as sparse as they had been back at home, most of the time. Where the Shibuya sky was blocked off and hidden, needing to crane your neck just to see it, now it was all the more there, but cut through by criss-crossing wires, like a web that had been cast over all the densely packed buildings.

Unfortunately, this was as far as the phone’s directions could take her. But when she’d nervously asked for directions from an old man running a second-hand goods store, he’d been nothing but polite, and even parted with “Don’t be a stranger, young lady,” which made everything feel a little brighter.

It didn’t take long at all to find the homely cafe Sakura-san apparently owned - a tidy hole in the wall, exterior dotted by potted plants, entrance covered by a small red and white awning that read `coffee & curry - Leblanc`. _Cozy_ , she thought. The clouds hung thick and grey, wet air whistling through the narrow streets, a ticking timer that she’d probably barely avoided. Still, the girl hung at the entrance, adjusting the strap of the duffel bag hanging at her shoulder, taking in breaths and steadying her nerves. A distant rumble of thunder helped push her inside.

A soft bell rang as she stepped through the door. There were only three booths in the cafe, an old couple already seated in one. The place had an odd familiarity to it, despite her never having been there before. It was like it’d fallen out of a portal to twenty years ago, the strong smell of coffee in the air and hanging light fixtures that made all the cool, darker colors feel just warm enough. _Guess they grind their coffee fresh_ , the girl thought, sizing up the collection of beans and other things behind the counter.

Across the way, a middle-aged man in a pink shirt and apron sat on the customer side of the counter, elbow deep in a crossword puzzle, paying no mind to the older couple discussing the newscast playing out on the TV in the corner. The girl stood there awkwardly, not wanting to be the one to interrupt the very important nothing happening right now. Before long, the old couple got up, excusing themselves and thanking the man - ‘Boss’, they called him - and headed past her out the door.

The woman looked quizzically at her for a moment, and the girl couldn’t help wincing internally. She knew that look.

“Sheesh,” sighed the man in the apron, setting aside his newspaper. “Four hours for one cup of joe.” He stretched as he stood up, as if working a kink out of his back, and looked the girl up and down. Her outfit wasn’t anything special, at least in her opinion. Somewhat fitted jeans, a pair of well-loved sneakers, and a plain dark jacket over a white tee. Her dark, messy hair curled around her lower jaw just barely, ending an inch or two above the shoulders. A pair of large, square-ish glasses helped frame her stormy grey eyes as they moved this way and that, trying to get a read on Sojiro as she shifted nervously from foot to foot.

“So, you’re the girl, huh?”

Breathing got easier. “I’m Akiza Kurusu. Are you Sakura-san?”

“Yeah, that’s me,” the man nodded. “I’m Sojiro Sakura. I’ll be taking care of you for the next year. Come on back, I’ll show you to your room.” Before she could respond, he’d already pivoted, heading towards a partly concealed staircase at the back of the cafe.

The attic was a dusty, cluttered place. Bare lightbulbs dangled from the ceiling, the soft shadows of cobwebs layered over in places. There was a desk piled high with junk, a rack of coffee bean sacks, and one corner was just _filled_ with random assorted things. It was obvious, too, seeing the clouds outside, and feeling the chill that pressed through, that there was no air conditioning. Akiza, however, nodded all the same.

“It’s bigger than I’d have expected,” she remarked. Sojiro nodded, perhaps for a different reason.

“I used to use it for storage space, but it’s mostly full of junk now.” He leaned over, testing a table and drawing a line in the dust, examining his finger afterwards. “If you want to clean it out, be my guest. I’m too busy to do it myself.” After a small pause, he wiped the finger off on his apron, leaning back against the rack of coffee beans. Sojiro curled an eyebrow, and it was too soon to tell if he was trying to be casual. “I got the gist of your situation. Something about an assault? Wouldn’t have guessed you were the type.”

“I-It wasn’t like that.” Akiza corrected, setting her bag down on the long table against the railing. Her hand grabbed at her wrist, squeezing and releasing over and over as a familiar mess of emotions stirred in her chest. “There was… a drunk man. Trying to force a woman to get into his car. I tried to help, and he fell and got injured. And… sued me for it.” She shook her head, releasing the grip on her wrist. “Not a single person took my side,” she explained, looking back up at him, brow set. “The woman lied. Said I tried to attack her.”

Righteous or not, it was easy to sort the blame and anger, but at the end, there wasn’t much left. It wasn’t numbness, but something else, still buried beneath it all.

Sojiro rubbed at the back of his neck, not tackling anything directly. “S’pose that’s what you get for sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong.” He straightened up suddenly, looking her square in the eye. “Now listen up. I agreed to take you in as a favor to one of my customers who knows your parents. If you behave and keep your head down, your probation will be lifted. Cause any trouble, and you won’t have anywhere to go, got that?”

Akiza couldn’t hold his gaze for long. He’d seemed somewhat sympathetic before, but if there was anything kind to read between the lines with words like those, she didn’t want to risk reading something wrong. Whether Sojiro noticed her shift in demeanor or not, he kept going.

“And…” He sighed, looking down for a moment before his eyes came back. “I know about your… other situation.”

Akiza winced.

“I don’t care, personally, but you’re gonna catch hell for it from some people, and I’m not getting involved. Just don’t make a big deal out of it.” She noticed him fold his arms, clearly uncomfortable with the situation as well.

“I, ah, appreciate that,” she said anyways, trying to push past everything. “I’m grateful that you were willing to take me in; I promise not to cause any trouble for you. And, um, do you have any cleaning supplies I could borrow?”

Sojiro blinked at her. “Sheesh, look at you, all eager to go.” He gave an easier laugh, maybe to help the tension. “They’re downstairs, in the closet next to the bathroom.” And led her there, indicating all the things she’d need. Mob, broom, et cetera. “Oh, and the box with your things arrived yesterday, and so did your school uniform. They’re upstairs, in front of the couch. We’ll be going to Shujin tomorrow, so make sure you’re ready for that.”

“Right. Shujin. New high school.” Akiza sighed to herself, trying to muscle down the nebulous anxiety of starting at a new school, already weeks into the semester. “Is it near here?”

“Not quite. I’ll drive you tomorrow, but after that you’ll have to take the train. It’ll be free with your student pass, so you don’t have to worry about that.” Sojiro sighed to himself again, tapping his foot on the floor. “What a waste of my Sunday…”

Once again, Akiza was struck with a familiar pang of awkward anxiety. “W-Well, I’m going to start cleaning,” she said, desperate to break the silence. Sojiro merely nodded, heading back to stew in his crossword.

_Alright. Time to get to work._

* * *

The task before her had helped to clean out thoughts along with the space, and hours later the attic had begun to resemble a place where someone might conceivably live. Akiza had dusted the whole room from top to bottom, washed the floor, and set up the bedsheets that Sojiro had provided for her (the bed, in truth, was little more than a mattress perched atop some storage crates, but it was reasonably comfortable regardless). Buried in the pile of _stuff_ built up in the corner, she had rescued a houseplant that seemed to be holding up alright despite its apparent neglect, placing it next to one of the shelving units. The desk and shelf could be decluttered another time, she decided.

“Well, look at that. You actually got the place looking alright,” Sojiro observed from the staircase. Akiza wiped her brow, turning to look at him.

“It’s a start,” she replied with a small smile. “Thanks for letting me use your supplies. I’ll have to take some of this stuff out later this week.” She gestured to the pile of goods on the tarp. “If you tell me where you want them, I’ll move them.” Sojiro made a grumbling noise that Akiza _thought_ sounded like an approval before turning downstairs again.

“Oh, and remember to set your alarm,” he called from the other floor. “Be outside my house at 9 AM tomorrow morning.”

“Ah, Sakura-san,” she called, quickly remembering something. “Is there a bath here I can use?”

“Bath house across the street,” came the reply. “You’d better go before I have to lock up.”

Akiza sucked a breath in through her teeth, biting her lip.

“That, um…” It wasn’t an easy thing to phrase well. Quickly trotting down the stairs, she stood face to face with Sojiro, standing slightly pigeon-toed. “The bath house… doesn’t really work for me.”

Sojiro studied her for a moment, brow crinkling in thought before he realized what she meant. “Ah… right. Hmm.” He put a hand to his chin, stroking his small beard. Akiza rocked back and forth on the balls of her feet, awkwardly scanning the cafe again. He let out a weary sigh, fixing her with a somewhat withering gaze. “You know, you’re bein’ a real troublesome kid already.” He reached below the countertop, taking his hat. “Go get your things. You can use the bathroom at my place, but only while I’m there. Don’t need you making a mess of the place.”

Dashing back upstairs, she hastily tossed her essentials into a bag, deciding to take her own towels with her at the last second. Better not to impose on Sojiro any more.

“Good on you for bringing your own linens,” he remarked, waiting by the door. “I sure as hell won’t be doing laundry for you.” Sojiro opened the door for her out into the now much colder night-time air, locking it behind them. The pair walked in silence, passing by a few night owls still roaming the streets, and stopped at the gate to his home. Sojiro fixed her with another look.

“Wait out here for a few minutes so I can clean up, alright?” Akiza nodded, still grateful for his generosity. As he closed the door behind him, she looked around, considering her first meeting with the man.

Sojiro seemed like a good person. He’d been willing to take her in for no benefit to himself, after all. He’d come off as a hard-ass a few times, but she suspected it was to make sure she took him seriously. The occasional moments of kindness had shown through despite his efforts to conceal them. Hopefully she’d be able to get him to warm up to her over time. A few minutes later, Sojiro opened the door again, gesturing for her to enter.

The house was clean, orderly, and somewhat minimalistic. _No photos_ , she noted. At least, not in the front hall. The unit stretched backwards some ways, with a living room just to the left of the front door. He gestured through the little sitting area at a door next to the kitchen. “That there’s the bathroom. I’ll be waiting for you. Don’t dawdle, and don’t go anywhere else.”

“Y-Yes sir. Thank you, again,” she said. And she meant it. _Anything_ was preferable to a public bath house. Sojiro responded with one of his already signature noncommittal grunts, taking his shoes off and setting himself down in front of the TV. Akiza padded quickly across the carpeted floor, shutting the bathroom door behind her and flicking on the light. The room was similarly tidy, probably the result of Sojiro’s cleaning. Really, it looked like a hotel bathroom, with the plain tile and lack of any visible personal effects.

The temperature on the water was surprisingly responsive, a welcome change from her home where the two settings were ‘scalding’ and ‘freezing’. Akiza quickly disrobed, glancing in the mirror at her reflection. She decided that she’d better shave her legs before visiting Shujin tomorrow. Her gaze lingered for only a little while before stepping into the shower. The medication was certainly _working_ , but not as fast as she would have liked. Still, results were results, even if only gradual.

As she flicked on her hairdryer post-shower, she swore that she heard a thud from somewhere in the house, but nothing else followed it. Not wanting to waste Sojiro’s time, she hastily continued her routine, making sure to check the bathroom again for any forgotten items before opening the door.

“... and the police have still not identified the cause of these so-called ‘psychotic breakdown’ incidents. We go now to prosecutor Niijima, with the public prosecutor’s office.” The TV served as background noise to Sojiro’s quiet flicking through a book. The sound of the door closing got his attention.

“If you’re all set, let’s get back to the store so I can lock up,” he said curtly. They, again, quietly returned to Leblanc, now with even fewer people roaming around. Akiza noted that the old man she’d spoken to earlier had closed up in the meantime. Once again at the threshold of the cafe, Sojiro unlocked the door.

“You’ll be on your own at night, so don’t do anything stupid, got it?”

“Yes, I understand. Thank you again for letting me use your shower.” She stepped into the cafe, reaching over to turn out the store lights before holding up one hand in a slight wave. “Good night, Sakura-san.”

Sojiro looked up from his phone, seemingly surprised at the little farewell. “Uh… yeah, you too. Good night, kid.” He then wordlessly locked the door behind her, leaving the girl to return upstairs and begin setting into bed.

Thoughts piled up in Akiza’s head as she set her glasses on the windowsill. She had a spacious, if unconventional room, and Sojiro was kind enough to let her use a private shower. Even better, he seemed to be at least accepting, if not fully _understanding_ of her situation, and that counted as a victory in Akiza’s book.

On one hand, the prospect of a new high school was daunting, and on the other, it was liberating. Beginning her transition during high school had been difficult. It was inconvenient, among other things, to have to painstakingly explain to everyone she interacted with on a regular basis that she’d be using new pronouns, would be looking different, et cetera, et cetera. A new school two prefectures away with zero overlap in population was exactly what she’d been longing for: a clean break. A chance to start _fresh_.

It’d been a shock when Shujin’s administration accepted the transfer paperwork that used her preferred name and pronouns, but it wasn’t a gift she’d question.

Truth be told, even if things weren’t ideal right now, they could certainly be worse. She was lucky that she’d been given a roof over her head at all. Her focus drifted to the patter of rain on the roof above her.

Joy and nerves rolled over her in a constant mix, looking with satisfaction across the now darkened room, lit only by whatever slivers of moonlight managed to peek through the clouds and the streetlights below. On the couch was her new school uniform, with knee high socks, a skirt, and a shirt that buttoned on the left side. The idea of wearing it only added to that cocktail of emotions, and she stewed in those thoughts for a while, until eventually the day’s fatigue caught up, and Akiza’s eyes drifted shut.

Things could always be worse, but tomorrow was feeling promising.

* * *

The soft notes of a piano filled her ears, and Akiza awoke in a place she’d never been.

The decently comfortable mattress of the attic had been replaced by a cold, unyielding metal cot, and as her eyes flew open, she was greeted with the sight of a cell, upholstered in fine blue. Gingerly, she sat up, trying to get a better feel for her surroundings.

Looking down at herself, she finally noticed the manacles, along with the ratty black-and-white striped prisoner’s garb she was wearing. Rationally, she knew that she should be panicking right now, but the emotion refused to show itself. Instead she merely swung to the side, setting her bare feet down on the freezing concrete, and turning to view the room outside her cell door.

Just outside the bars stood what looked to be a young girl with flowing silver hair and golden eyes, wearing a fine dress the same shade of blue as the room itself, white leggings and black evening gloves covering everything but her face. Her smile was placid, and she tucked an aged, thick book under one arm, the pages crinkling as her smile broadened, just slightly.

Akiza’s feet shuffled across the floor until her hands gripped the bars, feeling like she was somewhere between sleeping and waking; the same odd detachment and resistance that one felt trying to run in a dream, but with all the sensations that grounded a person in the real world. Words wanted to leave her throat, but couldn’t seem to come, so she squinted into the bright light beyond the bars.

The room was circular, with empty cells filling the remainder of the walls, however, none bore the same lock that her own did. Above the room hung a set of loudspeakers, though the ever-present music in her ears didn’t seem to be coming from them. The center of the room was covered by a plush blue carpet, the same shade as the walls, inlaid with golden trimmings and designs. And at the dead-center of the room sat a simple desk, home to a simple lamp, a simple quill, and a man that seemed anything but, with pointed ears and a cartoonishly long nose.

The man spoke with a soft voice that carried far above the calming music. His words were high and lilting, and his voice put Akiza in mind of something like a carnival showman.

“Trickster,” he said, fixing her with a stare and extending his gloved hand. “Welcome to the Velvet Room.” Before Akiza could muster a response, or _any_ kind of thoughts about this place or these people, he spoke again. “This realm exists between dream and reality -- mind and matter. In the near future, it is possible you will find yourself in dire need of assistance, and a ‘contract’ will present itself to grant you just that. It would seem you’ve found yourself in the midst of a very interesting game. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Igor.”

The young girl tucked one leg behind the other, pulling at the sides of her skirt to curtsy. “And I am Lavenza. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Igor. Lavenza. “... Game?” Akiza finally managed. Her voice rocked around the room, echoing in a way theirs didn’t for some reason. It felt stupid to focus on that word when so much was going on, but somehow that one jumped out the most.

Igor rolled his extended hand in a casual manner. “Sometime soon, the shape of the world will change. It is my duty to provide the assistance necessary and ensure that such a thing does not come to pass.” It wasn’t a full answer, but maybe that was as good as it would ever get. The old man’s eyes cast around the room. “The Velvet Room is a place whose appearance reflects the state of one’s heart. It is unfortunate indeed to see it take shape in such a manner. Perhaps you consider yourself a prisoner of fate? However…”

Lavenza stepped forward, pulling a ring of keys from a pocket at the front of her dress. “It need not always be that way. I will be by your side in this endeavor, as a resident of this place, and a confidant to lean on, when necessary.” A slender silver key fit into the padlock at the front of the cell, and the chains that wrapped around the bars fell to the ground with a clatter, disappearing entirely. With a creak, the door opened. Akiza blinked, and found herself no longer wearing the garb of a prisoner, but instead the clothes she’d fallen asleep in, warm and comforting in the strange, chilled air of this place.

Without thinking, she walked forward, automatically looking around, free in a way that could only be described as a weight lifting off her very soul.

Lavenza walked in front, black slippers clicking against the bricks. “I look forward to working with you, Trickster.” A gloved palm slipped over her own, and instinctively Akiza took hold of the keyring in her grasp.

“It would seem the night is waning,” said Igor, drawing their eyes back to him. “We shall attend to the details another time. Until then, farewell.”

At that moment, an alarm bell began to sound, and Akiza jumped at the noise drowning out the eerie music. She could almost _feel_ her consciousness fading, like it was being pulled out through her feet. Lavenza smiled pleasantly, and gave a small wave with her free hand. The gesture seemed completely at odds with the feeling passing over her.

“... until then?” it came out more as a weak question than anything, drowned out by the alarm’s noise.

* * *

_4/10_

Akiza sat bolt-upright in bed, clutching at her chest. Her shirt was drenched in sweat and her breath came in ragged, heaving gasps. The first rays of dawn were only just beginning to filter through the grime-stained windows. A quick glance at her phone indicated the time to be 5:39 AM. She let the phone fall back to the bed with a thud, rubbing her forehead for a moment before clapping her hand over her mouth as her stomach made a disconcerting sound and _lurched_ abruptly.

_Shit_.

She scrambled out of bed, desperately rushing to the small bathroom downstairs, thanking any gods that listened that the cafe wasn’t open yet moments before emptying her stomach. Once the dry-heaves ended, Akiza sat still for a moment, rubbing sleep out of her eye with the heel of her hand.

The first thing she thought was that she needed to lower her dosage again.

The second thing she thought was that life in Tokyo was off to a _great_ start.

After a few minutes of catching her breath, Akiza set about cleaning up any trace of her presence in the bathroom and vigorously brushing her teeth to get the taste of bile out of her mouth. All the while, her thoughts kept drifting back to that dream in the prison cell.

Of all the dreams in her life, each having flickered from her memory like candle flames guttering out, why had this one stuck so vividly? She could remember in detail the bizarre face of Igor, the cold metal of that keyring in her hands, and his mysterious words about the world changing shape. Akiza sat on the bed for twenty minutes, thinking on that fitful awakening before shaking her head, deciding there was no use dwelling in it. She had a routine to get through before Sojiro arrived.

Practicing her new voice was blessedly easier in the attic, where there was no danger of being overheard. Free, amateur-written guides only mostly translated from English over the internet had served her well - her register was right where she wanted it to be.

Ten minutes of stretches and leg workouts on a bare wooden floor, however, had Akiza lamenting her lack of a carpet. _Note to self_ , she thought as she rubbed a sore spot. _Buy a yoga mat_. Morning exercise had become a regular routine for her, but as with the voice practice, not having to fear being discovered and asked probing questions made the process far more enjoyable.

And finally, the time came to put on her uniform and wait for Sojiro. Disrobing out of her sweat-drenched pajamas, she hastily gave herself a once-over with deodorant to mask the smell before staring at herself in the little mirror she had brought from home.

Despite the fact that she was making visible progress, despite the fact that at least 70% of people she had spoken to yesterday had addressed her as “miss” without prompting, despite the fact that the Shujin student register officially listed her as a girl, she still felt wrong. So many little details that she wanted so desperately to correct; her shoulders were too wide, her jaw too defined, her hips too narrow. But these were problems that she’d learned to squish down, to compress inside a little diamond of nitpicks somewhere in her heart that she hoped she’d one day be able to stop adding to.

She stepped to the couch, trembling fingers reaching for her clothes and the new start that they represented. Before she knew it, she found herself standing in the cafe downstairs, waiting for Sojiro, in her uniform. Fully regulation, with only the addition of a pair of small compression shorts beneath her skirt. She had hastily applied a small amount of the only makeup she owned or knew how to use: just enough concealer to hide the dark circles that permanently lived under her eyes.

* * *

The drive to Shujin was silent, save for Sojiro’s brief explanation of what train lines would take her to the high school. Two line changes might not be very many to a Tokyo native, but to Akiza, it seemed insane that there was more than one train in the city _period_.

Akiza and Sojiro’s meeting with the Shujin principal and her homeroom teacher was similarly terse; the fat, bald principal struck her as an egotistical, self-absorbed man. More than once, he had brought up the school’s reputation and the effect she would have on it.

The teacher, Kawakami, came off as exceedingly _tired_ , of all things. While the woman’s makeup was more deftly applied, Akiza noticed the same type of concealer beneath the teacher’s eyes as she herself had used. She might have guessed that Kawakami was an exceedingly dedicated teacher, staying up late to provide extra lessons for students in need, were it not for the flat affect and disdain for her surroundings that colored her voice. Kawakami had even complained to the principal about Akiza having been added to her class _in front of her_ , which was galling in itself.

Akiza exchanged some general pleasantries with the principal and Kawakami, promising to be on her best behavior, that she would keep her situation in mind, that she would be a model student. Saying just enough in just the right ways to get them to nod and move on.

* * *

Sojiro tapped on the steering wheel impatiently, stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic. Akiza fidgeted in her seat next to him. The silence wasn’t exactly uncomfortable, but it wasn’t relaxed either. On top of that, she was still working through the finer points of sitting while wearing a skirt. She nearly jumped when he started speaking.

“So.. how was it? The school, I mean.” His eyes remained fixed on the car in front of them as they sat unmoving on the road.

“It was… a school, I guess.” Akiza pushed some hair out of her face, fiddling with the hem of her skirt. “The building is nice. Can’t help but feel like the faculty don’t like me very much, though,” she said with a wry grin. To her shock, that got a chuckle out of Sojiro.

“Well, yeah, can you blame them? They’re taking on a student with a criminal record. I was apprehensive too, when I got asked to take you in.”

Akiza paused for a moment as the car inched forward a bit. “Why _did_ you take me in? I am a criminal, after all,” she asked, looking across the car at him with that same wry smile. His brow furrowed just for a moment, and he shook his head.

“I just… happened to agree to it, as a favor to one of my customers. I’ve already been paid for it, so it’s no skin off my teeth if I have to throw you out.”

The smile faded. Sojiro had gotten paid? Akiza distinctly remembered being told by her parents and her case worker that he was doing it for free. So either Sojiro was lying, or they were. Lies on top of lies and thinly-veiled contempt, all for the sake of shuffling Akiza off to somewhere else, to make her someone else’s problem. She drifted back to reality after a moment of thought, listening idly to the news on the radio.

“...and in breaking news, a subway has derailed in Shibuya station…” Sojiro sighed at the radio, speaking in weary tones.

“ _Another_ accident, huh. They keep popping up.” He nodded to her. “There was a real sad one, right before you got here. The girl was fifteen. Her parents have gotta be just…” Sojiro trailed off, looking down and pinching his nose. Akiza could tell that this was a subject that touched him in some way, and she had an inkling that it went beyond the normal sympathy response. _File that information away for later_ , she thought.

By the time they escaped the traffic, it was time to get dinner. They settled on convenience store takeout. Sojiro paid for both of them.

* * *

Akiza laid in bed, staring at her student ID.

She wouldn’t be able to get her legal gender changed for years. This was a known fact.

So this ID was, in a sense, a temporary substitute. It was all there; height, weight, eye color, hair color.

Name and gender.

She pressed the little plastic card to her chest. It wasn’t legally binding. It was temporary, just for the year, like so many other things.

But it was a start. It was proof that she was right about her identity, about the feelings bouncing around in her heart, that little nagging voice in her ear.

It was proof that she was real.

She smiled softly, drifting off to a dreamless sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... this is a thing that's happening.
> 
> I was mad that Atlus didn't give us a playable female protagonist in Royal, so I decided to think up a version of events that had one, and then I decided that there was no reason the protagonist couldn't be a trans girl. One of the specific goals I have in mind going into this is that I want to tell a story from the perspective of a trans girl and focus on the daily experience of being transgender. Lots of the trans stories I see on Ao3 are focused on coming out which, while important, doesn't capture the greater experience for me. This fic is as much for me as it is for all you readers. 
> 
> This fic will try to update every week to ten days when possible. If you notice anything that you think needs to be tagged, please don't hesitate to let us know.
> 
> This chapter, I want to give thanks to AudibleEllipsis, my Temperance confidant and co-author. This fic wouldn't be possible without them and their help brainstorming, writing, and editing.
> 
> \- **Rabbit**
> 
> It's worth noting that we're both transwomen authors. We both wanted a female protag, and arrived here. There are a few other fun plot changes along the way. Look forward to cool fight scenes in Palaces.
> 
> \- **Audible**
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	2. Shine On, You Crazy Diamond (Parts 1 & 2)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW: Shadow Kamoshida typical. Sexual harassment, threats of sexual assault, unwanted (but not explicit) touching, blood.  
> Today's Chapter Title: [Shine On, You Crazy Diamond](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54W8kktFE_o)

_4/11_

A hot plate of curry was not what Akiza expected to see as she walked down the stairs Monday morning. Sojiro was leaning against the wall behind the counter reading a newspaper when she descended from the attic.

“Eat up,” he said, nodding to the plate. “Curry’s all I’ve got for you. Eat it quickly so you don’t miss the train.” Akiza nodded gratefully with a sleepy smile, padding over to the counter.

“Thanks, Sakura-san,” she said, picking up a spoonful. “I’m not used to having breakfast made for me, so I won’t complain too much.” Her wry grin returned to her face as she tasted the curry.

...huh.

She took another spoonful.

And another.

What the hell was up with this curry?

It was spicy, sure, like most all curry was. But beneath the spiciness, layers of complex flavors each unfolded one after the other. Sweetness and heat and savory tang.

“... this is amazing, Sakura-san. I didn’t know curry could taste like this…” Her praise was quickly cut off by another spoonful of the delicious dish. “How do you make it?” Sojiro merely matched her earlier smirk.

“That’s a secret for me to know and you to never find out, kid.” Akiza laughed brightly at that, and the two settled into a comfortable silence as she polished off the rest of the curry, as well as the accompanying coffee. It, too, was astounding; Akiza had never considered herself much of a coffee drinker, but she guessed then that she might end up changing her mind. Once she finished, she got up to wash her plate but was interrupted by Sojiro.

“I’ll take care of that. You go get ready for school.” He took the plate without waiting for a reply, turning to the sink as Akiza stood there, blinking. She watched him for a moment, a soft smile growing on her face.

_Yeah, he likes me,_ she thought. She thanked him again, heading back upstairs to get ready.

* * *

Thankfully, Akiza managed to catch all her trains in time. Sojiro’s directions had proved invaluable in navigating Shibuya’s central station. It seemed like a smooth morning, until the rain started.

She stood under an awning, looking out at the drizzle and berating herself for not bringing an umbrella. The cold breeze bit at her exposed skin, and she found herself surprised at the warmth afforded by the black tights included with the uniform. She attempted to check her phone for directions, but was met with that goddamn malware app. Before she could try to delete it yet again, her focus was gripped by the person standing in front of her and tapping her on the shoulder.

“...are you listening to me?” asked the girl. Akiza snapped back to reality, having gotten momentarily lost in the details of the other girl’s face. She looked over her shoulder and cursed before grabbing Akiza’s wrist and pulling her under the umbrella she carried. “Walk with me, and pretend like we’re friends. Please.” Her voice carried a note of desperation, and Akiza found herself reflexively settling into the disguise, walking with the other girl at an easy pace.

“Yeah, the trains were a nightmare today,” she said, striking up a false conversation to improve their cover. “I barely caught my last one in time. Aren’t you usually at school by now, anyway? I’m surprised to see you here.” The blonde looked surprised at how easily Akiza had slipped into the lie, rubbing the back of her neck with her free hand.

“Um, y-yeah!” She laughed nervously and just _slightly_ too loudly. _Definitely not a good actress,_ Akiza mused. “I-I decided to walk today! Gotta keep in shape, haha…” She trailed off into an agonizing silence, walking with a tense nervousness. Her eyes followed a car passing by them until it turned off the road ahead and out of sight. The other girl let out a deep sigh, pushing her hood back with one hand and shaking her head to let her golden twintails cascade over her shoulders. She looked at Akiza with a thankful smile, and the dark-haired girl felt her heart do a flip.

_Shit, she’s pretty…_

“Thank you so much,” she said, noticeably calmer now. “I really didn’t want him to notice me today, and you’re wearing a Shujin uniform so I just kinda… grabbed you. Sorry about that.” Akiza sputtered, grasping for a response.

“D-don’t worry about it!” She laughed nervously, suddenly hyper-conscious of the close proximity they shared under the umbrella. “You looked like you needed help, so it’s all good.” After a moment, Akiza managed to get herself under control, returning to the more easygoing walk they had been doing seconds earlier. “I’m actually new to Shujin, so I’d, um, appreciate if you could show me how to get there.”

Before the other girl could open her mouth, the pair heard the sound of fast footsteps impacting the wet sidewalk behind them. Another kid in a Shujin uniform; a boy this time, forgoing the white dress shirt under his jacket for a loud yellow tee-shirt, nearly the same bright yellow as his hair. Akiza briefly wondered what the odds of meeting two blondes within sixty seconds were before he caught up to them, catching his breath. The other girl’s brow furrowed again as they stopped on the sidewalk.

“What do _you_ want, huh?” She was instantly confrontational, and Akiza surmised that there was some existing history between these two. He straightened up out of his slouch, meeting her gaze with an equally surly look. He was about the same height as the other girl, which put him at about an inch shorter than Akiza.

“Hey, I was lookin’ out for you, ya know.” His voice matched hers in tone. _Definitely_ history here. “I saw Kamoshida’s car comin’ up behind you and I didn’t want him to try anything sketchy.”

Unknown to the three of them, the black-and-red malware app on Akiza’s phone had opened during their walk, and it pinged once softly. The other girl scoffed at him.

“And exactly what business of yours is it whether Kamoshida wants to talk to me on my way to school? Last I checked, you and I weren’t exactly on speaking terms.” The boy raked a hand through his hair, scowling.

“If you didn’t mind talkin’ to him, how come you grabbed _her_ to hide from him, huh!?” He wheeled on Akiza, pointing an accusing finger at her. The other girl grabbed his attention before she could respond.

_“Her”!_

“Leave her alone! She has nothing to do with this.” He kicked a discarded can into an alleyway next to them, letting out a frustrated cry.

_“Her”! And “she”!_

“I don’t get it! Why do you let that pervy teacher get away with whatever he wants!? He thinks he can run this school like some kinda king of the castle, and people like _you_ let him do it!”

The app chimed again, Akiza’s phone completely forgotten in her hand. She decided to cut in, if only for the sake of ending the shouting match.

“Hey, cut it out, both of you!” She stepped between them, voice snapping as the grip on her phone tightened. “I don’t know what your deal is, but homeroom starts in ten minutes and I’d really rather not be late on my first day, so can we please just go?” Both blondes looked at her with startled expressions. The boy turned away, jamming his hands into his pockets. The girl folded one arm across her chest, looking away as well. It was the boy who spoke up after a moment.

“...Fine. Follow me, you can get there faster through here.” He jerked his chin at the alley he had kicked the can into. Akiza let out a sigh.

“Thank you. Let’s get going.” She looked to the other girl with a questioning gaze. She shrugged, and the pair followed the boy through the alley. It was only wide enough for one person, so Akiza let the other girl lead. She spoke up after a moment, nudging Akiza.

“Hey, uh, sorry about that. We were arguing in front of you and we don’t even know your name.” She gave a quiet laugh. “I’m Ann Takamaki. That’s Ryuji Sakamoto.” The boy - Ryuji, apparently - threw one hand up in a halfhearted wave.

“It’s okay, I’m not upset or anything,” Akiza clarified. “Just confused, really. I’m Akiza Kurusu. This is my first day at Shujin.” Ryuji spoke up before Ann could respond.

“Hey, I’m, uh. Sorry I yelled at ya, Ann. That wasn’t right. I just… got worried, is all.” Akiza heard Ann sigh again, just before a tiny sound caught her ear. She turned to look behind her, but only found the entrance to the alley they had come through.

“No, I deserved it,” she said with a repentant tone. “I shouldn’t have gotten mad, it’s just…” Her voice was cut off as Akiza bumped into her back, Ann having stopped short behind Ryuji. Akiza looked up from her phone and realized why they had stopped.

Above them, the sky had turned a dark red, speckled with angry pitch-black clouds. Where there should have been a school, an enormous castle stood.

The three stood in stunned silence until Ryuji voiced the thought on all of their minds.

“W-where’s the school?”

That shocked the other two out of their stupors as they filed out of the alley, standing in the shadow of the castle in what looked like a courtyard. A massive wooden drawbridge crossed over a chasm where the road abruptly _stopped_ , like it had simply been cut away. Ann took a few steps forward, looking up and around at the mammoth building. She fixed Ryuji with a confused look.

“Alright, I know you don’t have the best sense of direction, but this is _way_ too lost, even for you. Something’s not right here,” she said, stepping closer to the drawbridge. The blond boy took a step back, looking affronted.

“H-hey, what are you lookin’ at me for!? I come through this alley to get to school every day! This has gotta be like… a movie set or somethin’ right?” He jogged to catch up with Ann, Akiza following close behind as the trio approached the drawbridge.

“I have no idea,” she said. “I was here just yesterday to fill out my transfer paperwork. I don’t know how I could have missed a giant castle in the middle of Aoyama…” Akiza took a step onto the drawbridge and, feeling it hold up under her weight, stepped up onto it fully. “Let’s go check it out. Worst case, we can ask for directions, right?” The blondes shrugged, heading up the drawbridge after her.

The trio had barely taken ten steps off the other end when they began to regret that naivete.

“Halt!” A voice from the castle ramparts cried out. “Raise the drawbridge! Princess Ann has been kidnapped!” With a grinding of chains and a great creaking noise, the drawbridge began to rise up behind them. There was a heavy ‘thunk’, like a lever had been pulled, and the gate not ten feet away came careening down, locked into place.

“Damn, what the hell!?” Ryuji jumped back.

“Wait, princess? Me?” Ann stared at the closed off exit in shock. Akiza couldn’t make out whatever Ryuji shouted after, eyes already focused on the one, two, three and counting shapes that were filling out the ramparts. Each one was clad in a full suit of armor, staring down, openly carrying a sword and shield. Something was _wrong_.

“Come on!” Akiza grabbed hold of Ann’s hand, and pulled her forward. The blonde snapped back in an instant, and a moment later they were running towards the castle’s entrance.

“Shit, where are you going!?” Ryuji asked, looking back one last time before sprinting after.

“Can’t hide in an open courtyard!” came Akiza’s response. Until then, it felt like Ann had been running more on instinct, but now there was intent, following close behind. Ryuji grimaced as he sped up to close the distance. Any one of the enormous double doors would probably do, so they charged straight down the middle, pushing together to get one open enough to squeeze through.

“After them! Don’t let them escape!” One of the knights called from above.

“We just gotta--” Akiza began as they pressed into the castle proper. “... hide.”

The place was _enormous_.

Banners of red streamed from one side of the ceiling to the other, a massive chandelier and all its crystals twinkling low in the air, _demanding_ your attention. At the far side was a sprawling staircase that led to the second floor, a landing halfway up, and the frankly obnoxious distance between the entrance to there was made up by black and white marble tiles that were mostly covered in red carpet anyways. It was the picture of opulence, with detail in every place, and only two exits to the left or right.

“Now what do we do?” Ryuji shouted.

From the right, the noise of metal clanking against itself started getting louder, so they made for the left, bursting past a door only to see more of the knights (each one exactly the same, moving the same way, with the same hunched back and sword) arriving from the other side, not far away. “Up the stairs!” Ann called out.

The trio bolted for the wide staircase, but only made it as far as the landing. From above descended a man in a red cloak patterned with hearts and trimmed in white fur. His black hair jutted out to both sides, golden eyes complemented by the crown atop his head. Flanked by two more knights, he jerked his chin down at them with an arrogant smirk.

“Guards! Surround and capture them!”

Ann and Ryuji’s eyes nearly popped out of their heads.

“Y-you’re…” began Ann.

“Kamoshida!? What the hell are you doin’ here, you bastard? What’s going on!?” Ryuji yelled up the staircase. Akiza looked around; every exit she could see was blocked off by knights, and more had advanced up the stairs, cornering them completely. This was _bad_.

“You little runts think you can just barge into my castle and do whatever you want, huh?” The man - Kamoshida, apparently - spoke with a voice positively dripping with condescension and smug superiority. He descended the staircase towards them in a leisurely stroll. Through the openings in his cape, Akiza caught flashes of what was underneath -- he was naked, save for a frighteningly tiny pair of pink underwear.

_What the hell is up with this school?_

The guard behind Akiza took her by surprise as it grabbed her arms roughly, pinning them behind her back as two more did the same with Ann and Ryuji. It was only then that Akiza realized she’d never let go of Ann’s hand.

Kamoshida stood before them looking triumphant. “Well, look who we have here,” he taunted. “The burnout track star, the pretty blonde, and some new girl.” He strode over to Ryuji, who struggled against the hold the guard had him in. “Looks like you still haven’t learned your place, Sakamoto. Trespassing _and_ insulting the king? That right there earns you a death sentence, you useless runt.” He pulled back a fist, slugging Ryuji hard across the jaw. The boy cried out in pain, staggering from the hit as another one came in from the left.

“RYUJI!” cried Ann, struggling desperately against her captor. “Leave him alone, you piece of shit!” _This is insane,_ Akiza thought as her mind raced, trying to come up with a plan. _I have to do something. But how can I…_ Her thoughts were interrupted as Kamoshida laid a powerful kick into Ryuji’s stomach, knocking the wind out of him and sending him to the floor. He looked up at the girls, face bruised and contorted in pain.

“Y-you two… you gotta get outta here. You gotta run!” Kamoshida merely cackled in response, placing a foot on one of Ryuji’s legs, who _howled_ in pain.

“Ahh, I see my little reminder is still fresh. What a lovely memento of the time I crushed your dreams. That’s what you get for defying me, you useless pest!” He leaned down harder, and Ryuji punched the floor as he screamed. Akiza was on the verge of crying from confusion and sheer terror, and Ann wasn’t far behind. Nothing made sense, Ryuji was in trouble, and she suspected they were next. Her fears were confirmed as the king relented his assault on Ryuji, turning to pace towards them.

“And here we have two pretty girls come wandering into my hall,” he sneered, getting uncomfortably close to Akiza’s face. His crooked teeth and foul breath nearly made her retch as he looked her up and down. “I’ve seen Takamaki before, but _you_ must be new here. Mmm, I think I’ll take you both up to my playroom once I’m done with this garbage here. I’m sure you’ll both look _lovely_ in your new outfits…”

He turned to Ann as well, giving her the same horrifying appraisal. “And you, Takamaki. Have you finally come to embrace my invitations like a good girl? As expected, of course. All you do is whatever you’re told to.”

Behind him, Ryuji struggled to his knees, propped up on shaking arms. He spit out a blob of blood, staining the crimson carpet a darker red. His breath was heaving and ragged.

“Get… the fuck… away from them…”

Kamoshida froze in his tracks, turning to Ryuji with an incredulous expression. “Well, if you’re that excited to be killed, we can expedite the process.” He motioned to the guards holding the girls. “They don’t go in the prison with the rest. Take them to the playroom. You, finish executing this criminal.” He jerked his chin at another guard which positioned itself above Ryuji, sword held aloft. Ann’s frantic cries continued as the guards began to drag them up the stairs, Kamoshida in close pursuit.

“Oh, just imagine all the fun we’re going to have together… You’ll both make such lovely additions to my little collection.”

Ryuji called out to Kamoshida again.

“Get back here… _agh_ … you bastard!” He struggled to his feet, guard seemingly unresponsive as he glared with burning fury at the king. “Beatin’ me up is one thing, but if you really think I’m… _g-gah_ … g-gonna let you hurt them, you really are stupid!”

“And what exactly gives you the right to speak to me that way, you scum!?” Kamoshida whirled on him, folding his arms and grinning wickedly at the boy.

“I’ll say whatever the hell I want! I’m _done_ bein’ afraid of you. I’m _done_ lettin’ you hurt people! And I’m _done_ lettin’ you look down on me with that _stupid smile on your face!_ ”

**Finally ready to set sail, are we?**

Ryuji blinked, taking in a sharp gasp. When his eyes opened again, they were colored a rich gold. He clutched his head, pained gasps flying from his mouth as he stumbled to his knees again.

“H-hey,” said Ann, voice shaky. “W-what’s happening to him…?”

“I-I don’t know…” Akiza’s voice was similarly nervous. She felt some kind of energy charging the air.

It reminded her of the Velvet Room.

Ryuji’s head pounded, fingers digging into his scalp. He felt like his brain was trying to force its way out of his head through his eyes.

_W-what? Who are you? Why are you in my head!?_

**Cannons thunder in your heart, but have you the resolve to turn them loose on the world that cast you down?**

Ryuji’s elbows hit the floor as he screamed. Nothing had ever been this painful. Not his beating just now, not even the last time he’d tried to face Kamoshida.

_I-I need to save them! Please, you gotta help me!_

**You have weathered countless storms alone. The time has arrived for you to become one! The wind calls to you, Ryuji Sakamoto! Will you answer it!?**

_Y-yes! C’mon, just help me!_

**We have reached an accord, then! Weigh anchor, and let fly the black flag of freedom!**

Ryuji’s convulsions stopped.

He struggled to his feet again, the top portion of his face covered in an iron mask shaped like a skull. The voice that sounded from him was both his and not his.

**_“I am thou. Thou art I.”_ **

Ryuji’s hands found their way to the edges of the mask, and he started to pull. He cried out in pain again, spurts of blood flying as the mask moved, culminating in a shower of crimson as it tore free from his face with a scream. Blue flames engulfed the landing of the staircase, and the guards were blasted back by a burst of wind. Akiza and Ann could only watch as Ryuji emerged from the fire.

“Holy shit…” Ann, now freed, stared at Ryuji.

The blond stood tall, suddenly wearing black leather that fit him closely, metal sides and brass knuckles gleaming in the fire. In one bright yellow glove a dented metal pipe pressed against the ground, and in his expression not a single hint of that pain remained. That same fire burned in his eyes.

“G-Guards!” Kamoshida stepped back. “Seize him at once!”

From either side of the staircase, knights jerked into motion. From below came a stream, three on the right, three on the left. Ryuji lifted the pipe in both hands, eyes to the right. “Like hell you will!” He shouted, and pulled air, slamming it into the side of the leading knight’s head, sending them toppling down the stairs and onto the other two. There was hardly any clanking before the knights seemed to melt into the floor entirely.

With those three taken care of, Ryuji turned to the others, fresh on the landing. He raised the pipe overhead in an exaggerated motion and barely managed to react in time when the leading knight’s shield came up, shifting out a leg and putting all of his weight into a step-kick instead. The shield-bearer stumbled back, while the other two got into close melee with him.

Ryuji slammed aside an oncoming blade and brought his pipe up for another blow while Akiza took advantage of the chaos and grabbed at the still-stumbling knight’s wrist, yanking it forward hard and driving her elbow down on the inside of the thing’s own elbow with as much force as possible. The sound was awful, and the impact hurt just as much, but adrenaline let her ignore the pain and pick up the sword it’d dropped.

She locked eyes with Kamoshida. He stepped back again.

“What are you doing?” The golden-eyed man blustered. “Useless knights! Do whatever’s necessary, you hear me? I want them locked up, and I don’t care what condition they arrive in any more!”

Akiza lifted her sword and then plunged it into the back of the remaining knight bothering Ryuji. It, too, melted into the ground. “Seems like what you want doesn’t matter any more.”

The knights that had gathered on the second floor began to descend, and Ann moved quickly behind Akiza. Ryuji’s free hand moved to his mask. “Alright, let’s do this. CAPTAIN KIDD!” He tore it free once again. A figure appeared behind Ryuji; a towering, skeletal pirate captain garbed in black and blue, its dark, tattered Jolly Roger cape billowing in the non-existent wind. The smell of ozone filled the air as the captain’s boat turned, a golden cannon for a hand pointed forward in the exact same pose as Ryuji’s, and from high above cracked down arcs of electricity, burning the air and striking down knight after knight.

More were coming, but that seemed to be enough for Kamoshida. The coward ran.

“Ryuji, we need to get out of here!” Ann shouted, still behind Akiza, the latter raising her blade to carefully bat aside the hopeful jabs of knights coming up the stairs.

“Get out of here?” Ryuji answered. “I’m like some kinda freakin’ superhero! You heard that bastard Kamoshida! If he’s keepin’ other people as prisoners here, or worse, then I’m bustin’ ‘em outta here. Hop on!”

At that, the boat pulled up to the side of the landing - against the railing. Surrounded as they were, it’s not like there was any other choice. Ann clambered across quickly, finding purchase on a couple of stumps that must have been masts at some point, clinging on for dear life. Ryuji moved after that, kneeling with one foot on the deck and the other along the bowsprit. Akiza, stepping back and making broad swipes to keep the knights at bay, took one look back and hopped off the side as the boat pulled away, grabbing onto the rigging with all her strength.

“Do you know where you’re going?” Akiza asked as they pulled away, grimacing as some of the knights started to shudder and convulse, melting together and… moving somewhere else?

“Hell no!” came the blunt answer. “But if this is like a castle, then they always keep prisoners below ground, right?”

Ann still looked like she didn’t know how to take all this, which was pretty fair. “Are you basing your escape plan on the manga you read?”

“No!” he answered. “Maybe?”

“Makes as much sense as anything else.” Akiza swallowed.

The halls they broke through definitely weren’t designed for this, but the boat rammed to the side just about anyone they came across, and any stragglers ducking out of the way just couldn’t keep up. It wasn’t long before they came across a bend, though, and saw where some of the knights from earlier must have been shifting off to. A massive version of the things from before filled the hall, standing menacingly in front of a heavily barred door.

“Uh, Ryuji?” Ann hazarded when they didn’t slow down.

“I’ve got this,” Ryuji answered. He kneeled a little lower and rubbed one gloved hand along the ship’s grain. “It’s like, somehow I can tell this thing ain’t just for show.”

Akiza wasn’t sure what Ryuji was planning, only that it would probably be equally as reckless and daring as her own idea. “Spin me towards them,” she offered.

“You got it,” he grinned, she could just _tell_ , even without being able to see it. “Hold on tight!” Three fourths of the way down the hall, the boat swerved _hard_ , port turning to face in a motion that felt very much like a car drifting to take a hairpin turn. Akiza brought up both knees, planting her feet against the side of the boat and kicked off the instant momentum turned in her favor. Pushing against everything, she brought the sword up and forward, shouting as she tucked her knees in again and braced for the impact. At _speed_ , the sword plunged through the knight’s mask, black ichor spewing out onto the hall through its armor. With the boat catching up and the knight dissolving, she held out a hand and caught the rigging on the other side as it passed.

Ryuji pointed forward, voice louder than it’d probably ever been.

“GET WRECKED!!”

Cannon-fire echoed through the hall, and Akiza’s only regret was that it was impossible to protect her ears. The wall in front of them came down in a spray of debris and dust, movement slowing only as they took the tight stairwell down. The moment the scenery changed, and they’d come to something resembling a stop on the other side of a waterway, the boat and its captain disappeared, and the three were left reeling at the escape.

For her money, Akiza’s heart had never beat that fast before. Why had she even done that?

“Why did you _do_ that!?” Ann shrieked, grabbing Akiza by the shoulders. “You could’ve gotten killed, like, six times in the last two minutes!” The adrenaline still pounding in Akiza’s veins made her laugh deliriously, putting her own hands on Ann’s shoulders in return.

“I don’t know! Ryuji started beating them up so I just, y’know, _went_ for it, and now we’re here!” Ryuji cackled, throwing an arm over Akiza’s shoulder and laughing along with her.

“You were _amazing_! You stole that dude’s sword and then you _jumped off the boat_ and shoved it through that other guy’s face! Man, who the hell _are_ you!?” Akiza only smiled and went in for a high-five in response. Ann was far less enthused by recent events.

“Can you two stop laughing for a minute so we can figure out what the hell is going on!?” She turned to Ryuji, more confused than actually upset. “What the hell happened to you up there? What was _any_ of that!?”

“I dunno!” Ryuji’s grin was indelible. “I heard this voice in my head, and then I like, ripped my face off and I got this dope outfit and--” he paused to take a breath. “--and I’m _really_ tired…” Seemingly spent, his legs gave out underneath him, and Ann rushed to support his other side as Akiza shouldered part of his weight. A burst of spectral blue flames engulfed him for a moment and faded away, leaving his school uniform remaining.

“Oh my god, Ryuji! Are you okay!?” Ann shouted.

Akiza reached over with a free hand, feeling his exposed neck for a pulse. “He’s not dead, just passed out. He probably just used a _ton_ of energy all at once, and I guess his adrenaline ran out.”

Ann sputtered in response. “W-well why didn’t he drive us out of the castle!? Now we’re stuck in a dungeon that those guards saw us go down, and our superhero is taking a nap!”

Now that the adrenaline had mostly faded, they were able to take in literally anything else about their surroundings.

A canal ran straight through the middle of a steadily downward sloping path on either side, extending and breaking off towards the castle again eventually on either side. The running water was moving dangerously fast, a few empty cages either hanging over it from chains or already submerged and caught in the stream. Compared to the castle itself, there wasn’t much lighting, just a few lanterns spitting out red and purple flames.

A groan from nearby caught both of them off guard. They turned to the source of the noise, where a young man that didn’t look much older than them was hunched over on the ground.

“Oh my god, there’s actually more people here?” Ann whispered, more from shock than any desire to keep quiet. They set Ryuji down.

Akiza looked around for a key, or a way to open up the cell door. The beaten teen looked up and coughed once it became obvious what she was doing.

“No, don’t,” he managed. His eyes were golden, the same way she’d seen Ryuji’s momentarily, or Kamoshida’s had been the whole time. “Don’t fuck this up for me. If I stay low, the King will let me out eventually. Maybe… I’ll even get to be one of his knights too.”

“Wait, I think I know this guy. He’s on the volleyball team…” Ann spoke up. “Daiki-san?”

“Princess Ann…?” The teen’s face slowly slipped into a pained smile. “Are you here to bring me to the King? Have I done enough?”

Ann’s frown deepened. Akiza spoke up on her behalf, digging through a crate of scrap metal to look for something that might be able to wedge the door open. “She’s not--” But that was interrupted too.

“...hey! Can anybody hear me!? I’m stuck in here!” Akiza’s attention shifted to a voice down the hall, crying out from what must have been another cell.

“... Maybe they can help?” Akiza began again. Ann let out another exasperated sigh.

“Sure, I guess. Not like we have _worse_ options right now.”

“We’ll be back for you.” Akiza promised quickly. Daiki’s dazed, hopeful smile hurt to turn away from. Something about him _definitely_ wasn’t right.

Carrying Ryuji with them again, the two headed across the drawbridge, towards the source of the cry. The stone walkways were slick with condensation and moss, making progress slow but steady. Along the way, they passed a few more of what must have been Shujin students in other cells, but stopped seeing any more after passing over the water. Despite being some kind of prison, mercifully there weren’t any guards around. Akiza supposed they had no reason to be posted anywhere but at the exits, waiting for them.

Akiza pressed some words into the depressing space. “Hey, so, uh…” she began, looking over Ryuji at Ann. “Sorry about back there. That was… really reckless, you’re right. I don’t really know what came over me.”

“It’s okay,” said Ann with a shake of her head. “I was pretty freaked out after that, I shouldn’t have yelled at you. You _did_ save my life after all.” She flashed a friendly grin and Akiza had to look away, blushing despite everything. Having long hair to hide behind paid off.

Finally, they rounded the corner where the voice seemed to be coming from. It had continued yowling the whole time they’d spent walking over.

Akiza looked into the cell and added 1 (one) more item to her mental list of ‘insane things seen on the first day of school’. The cell’s occupant was a small, absurdly cartoonish cat-person-thing. A black bandanna covered its face, save for its bright blue eyes, with a yellow bandana hung around its neck. The thing jumped as it spoke, fixing the girls with a wild stare.

“What the heck are you three _doing!?_ ” The cat-thing shouted. “I’ve never felt a security level this high in my life!” Akiza and Ann stared boggle-eyed at the thing.

“...Security level?” was Akiza’s reply. “Wait, back up. Who and _what_ are you?”

“My name’s Morgana! Those guards locked me in here, and I can’t get the key! It’s right on the wall there, you’ve gotta let me out!”

Sure, all the others had been students, but… Ann seemed to share her thoughts. “Well, you don’t exactly _look_ like a good guy, you know.” She raised a skeptical eyebrow. “You look like some weird cat-thing. How do we know you’re not an enemy?” The thing let out a frustrated cry, banging its head against the bars.

“I’m locked up in their prison, why would I be one of them!? And I am _not_ a cat!” Morgana groaned, looking them up and down. “... Hey, you wanna get out of here, right? I can show you a secret exit. If you let me out, I’ll take you there!” Akiza turned to Ann, looking for her opinion.

“What do you think? Do we have another choice right now?” Ann groaned.

“No, I guess not. Here, grab the key. I got him.” She shrugged Ryuji over to her, grunting as she bore his weight while Akiza freed Morgana. The thing dashed out of the cell, stretching with a happy expression.

“Ahh, freedom tastes so good!” He grinned, looking up at the two girls and the unconscious boy. “Follow me, and try to stay quiet. I’ll explain some stuff as we go.” He paced off down the hallway, Akiza taking half of the unconscious pirate(?) and following after him.

“So, from the sound of things, blondie here just awakened to a Persona. They’re a manifestation of your soul, formed by strong willpower. You guys fell into this world called the Metaverse, which is a place shaped by cognition--”

“Whoa, whoa, slow down!” Ann whispered urgently. “Back up! Okay, Persona, weird magic ghost thing, sure. We’re in another _world_?”

Akiza desperately tried to put some metaphorical feet under her. “What about the other prisoners?”

Morgana sighed. “Amateurs! Yes, the Metaverse is another world. It’s home to all of humanity’s thoughts and desires, which is why this castle is here. Its ruler perceived the world a certain way, so the Metaverse reflects that. When it gets this big and this warped, it’s called a Palace. Basically, nobody here is real except for you and me, and if they’re not the Palace’s owner, then they’re just a Shadow, or a cognitive version _of_ a real person. Am I making sense yet?” He peeked around a corner, whispering impatiently. After a moment, he waved, backing them around the corner and into the shadows cast by a large stack of crates. As they huddled in the cover, Ryuji began to stir.

“... _ugh_ , where am I…?” Akiza urgently hushed him. Crossing the path, she’d spotted two guards in front of a door down a hall on the opposite end, having some kind of conversation. Ryuji blinked a few times, looking at Akiza and Ann with bleary eyes. “D-did we get out…?”

“No, stupid, cause you drove us into the dungeons!” Ann whispered angrily at him before calming herself down. “We’re on our way out. Can you stand?” He tested his feet, finding himself wobbly but okay, and the girls set him down gently.

“Congrats on your Persona, blondie.” Morgana quipped from below. Ryuji’s gaze swiveled down, brow wrinkling at the bizarre creature. Akira interrupted him before he could ask any questions.

“That’s Morgana, we busted him out of a cell. He knows how to get out of here, and about your powers. We’ll explain when we get out of here!” Ryuji silently blinked at her, eyebrows raised before shrugging and nodding.

“Sure, makes sense I guess. How far is the exit?”

“Not much farther,” answered Morgana. “It’s around that corner, there’s another room just ahead with a tunnel that leads to the outside. From there, we’ll be able to return to reality.”

They hid behind the crates for a minute or two, watching the guards continue their conversation. Akiza briefly wondered if these things could even _have_ conversations before Ryuji spoke up.

“This is takin’ forever!” He whispered, frustrated and clearly antsy. “Lemme just get my Persona or whatever out and we can blast through ‘em!” Akiza was quick to talk him down.

“Ryuji, you passed out last time you did that. You’ve gotta be running on fumes right now. We’ve gotta…” She trailed off, finger on her chin in thought. She spied a small stone that had come loose from the walkway, finding that she could easily pick it up. “Alright, we’re gonna distract them. Once they go by, we can bolt for the exit. Sound like a plan?”

“Heh, you’re catching on pretty quick,” smirked Morgana. He turned to the other two, gesturing to Akiza. “You could learn a thing or two from her, y’know.” Ryuji sputtered, taken aback.

“H-hey, I _just_ woke up! Gimme some slack here!” Ann made a ‘shoosh’ noise as his voice bordered on giving away their position. Akiza, meanwhile, lobbed the rock far away down the path on their side, where it clattered against the stonework, echoing through the cavern.

“What was that?” The guards at the end of the walkway turned their attention to the sound. “That could be the intruders!” They ran down the path, lowered the drawbridge, and barreled away in the opposite direction. Morgana signaled for them to move, and the sprint began.

They nearly made it.

Three quarters of the way there, the moment they’d rounded the bend and were facing the hall, Ryuji cried out and collapsed to the floor, clutching his right leg.

“Agh, c’mon, not now!” He growled as he clutched his leg, face contorted in pain. Akiza stopped short, dashing back to get him. But when she looked back to Morgana and Ann, her stomach dropped.

A great knight in crimson armor sat atop a similarly large pegasus, reins in hand, having materialized out of the floor from that black slime she’d seen them melt into earlier. This one was different, brandishing a long lance in one hand. Ann was on the back-foot, Morgana standing in front of her protectively, his own massive Persona appearing at his side in a burst of blue flame -- appearing as a barrel-chested, broad shouldered man clad in black, outrageously wide arms drawing a simple rapier and summoning a gust of wind to try and keep the beast away.

Another clamoring snapped her attention away, a squadron of knights rushing back after their false start, blocking the path they’d come from. Ryuji saw it too, and looked up at her with pleading eyes, Akiza already having taken him up over her shoulder.

“C’mon, forget about me, you gotta get outta here!”

“Don’t be stupid, either we all get out or none of us do!” Akiza answered.

The knights were still gaining on them, and Morgana seemed to be having trouble fending off what must have been a captain of some kind. In the moment she set Ryuji down against the wall, farther back, standing in front of him sword in hand, a half-formed thought clicked into place. Using the empty cages that were low enough to jump onto, she could probably swing across to the other side, and escape the way they’d come. But that thought was slapped down in an instant.

If it was a choice between standing up to help someone and running away, it wasn’t a choice at all.

**That’s right, darling. There never has been a choice, has there?**

Akiza let out a pained gasp, eyes flying wide open as she stooped over, hand catching the side of her head. A blast of air erupted from her body, stopping the oncoming knights in their tracks. Ryuji shielded his face with his arm, inching back as much as possible. Akiza’s glasses clattered to the floor as she convulsed.

**I can feel your passion, your willpower. The world is stacked against you, and you have the chance to defy it.**

Akiza screamed again. The pounding in her head was unceasing. She couldn’t move, couldn’t speak, could barely _think_.

_I…_

**You what? Don’t tell me all of that bravado earlier was mere masquerade. You have suffered for the convenience of others for your entire life. What is it that you desire?**

_I don’t know! I just… I want to be happy! I want to laugh, and smile, and mean it! I want to be me, and I want people that will accept me! And… I want to stand by the people I care about!_

**Then take my hand, my darling. Vow to me, that we might dance this delicate dance together. Raise your blade, cry out your name, and claim the joy you seek!**

Ann, Morgana, and all the knights had ceased their engagements. All eyes were on Akiza as her cries guttered out. She straightened up, now-golden eyes fixed on the throng of soldiers, face shrouded by a white domino mask. When she spoke, she felt _powerful_ , like every iota of her soul stood with her.

**“I am thou. Thou art I.”**

Her fingers gripped the edges of the mask, and she began to pull. The more she wanted it off, the more the pain seemed to grow as it pulled off the surface of her skin, crimson blood staining her hands and running down her face.

“I won’t… g-gah… give up… on them!”

She tore the mask free, throwing it to the side with a wide swing of her arm. Dark hair flew up around her as blue flames engulfed her body.

“No way…” Ryuji stared in open awe at the inferno of heatless fire.

“Her too!?” Ann exclaimed, shielding her eyes from its brightness. Morgana grinned and chuckled.

“I was right. She _does_ catch on quick.”

Akiza emerged from the pillar of fire as it faded. Her steely gray eyes fixed the knights before her in their gaze as she stood resolute in front of Ryuji. The Shujin uniform had been replaced with an elegant black silk jacket, buttoned low in the front with a wide collar and sleeves ending in white frills, and a matching white cravat around her neck. Crimson bows accented her waist, complementing the skirt and gloves adorning her. Tall black boots ran up to just shy of her knees, tops folding over as dark leggings encased the rest of her legs. In her right hand, the blade that had once been was no more, and in its place was a long silver sword, with a thin blade and an ornate handguard.

She flicked her hair out of her face, raising her rapier to challenge the knights. In a burst of wind a towering figure appeared behind Akiza, looking not unlike her. Long heeled boots ran up to its waist, where a dark corset accented its crimson arms and legs. One massive wing was cast over its shoulder, folded over like a makeshift shield. It, too, had a wide collar of white lace, and a hat with a black feather perched atop its head. One side of its face was masked by an even smile, while the other revealed a wicked grin and an eye burning with crimson flame. It brandished its rapier at the knights. Akiza called out the challenge.

“You won’t go one step further, I swear it! _Cut them down, JULIE!_ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now we start getting into the meat of the story! I realize that this chapter is a bit different from last chapter in terms of action-to-introspection ratio, but it's kinda necessary to get everything in motion. Plus, there's still plenty of character interaction here!
> 
> Thanks to [Shenpai](https://twitter.com/aeroviro) for helping out with the art for this chapter! She helped bring Akiza to life. Look forward to more art next chapter :eyes:
> 
> Also we're definitely not gonna be thanking each other every chapter, but it felt right to do it at the start lmao
> 
> \- **Rabbit**
> 
> So, I absolutely love fight scenes, and magic, and both of those things together at once. Not every encounter in a Palace is going to be quite so spectacular, or long (or even written out at all). Everyone still has their limits, and the broader focus is still on character interactions, but my heart really goes out to all the kickass setpieces of P5 and all the ways these people don't get to use their Personas because it's a JRPG (which is like, fine, obviously lol). 
> 
> The Metaverse rules but we all know how it basically works, and this setup was really nice for getting everyone together faster, among other things. Morgana's just... like, not gonna be weird about Ann btw. We're not doing that lol.
> 
> Big ups to Rabbit, my Strength Arcana, for helping to carry a lot of the dialogue. She does interpersonal bits really well. In general, I take over for action, and she takes over for prolonged dialogue, and we both help edit. It's probably like an 80/20 split on our areas of expertise, so it works well. Very proud of next chapter as well.
> 
> \- **Audible**
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	3. No Fear No More

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW: Mild Lesbophobia  
> Today's Chapter Title: [No Fear No More](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_EnyikMsEU)
> 
> As promised, more art! Open in a new tab for the full resolution :D

Akiza’s eyes blazed with newfound determination. Her teeth grit together as she made a sweeping motion with the rapier in her hand, cutting through the air. Behind her and to the right, just around the corner, she knew Morgana was in a heated battle with the captain in scarlet armor atop its pegasus, and could hear the clanking of metal as their weapons clashed. In front, the knights had collected themselves again - a squadron of four at the lead with two more coming down the stone on the other side.

One from in front charged recklessly, moving forward with their blade raised overhead. With speed she’d never known, Akiza planted one foot forward and dashed off the slick stone, precision and grace guiding every movement. Her rapier lifted, singing through the air as it was brought forward and back, once, twice, jabbing through the knight’s exposed elbow joint and beneath its arm, spewing black ichor that pooled into the floor.

 _When did I learn how to do all this…?_ Akiza thought.

**This has always been your gift,** Julie answered. **Speed. Precision. Grace.**

_My power…_

The knight reeled back, while the rest of the squadron stepped forward to take its place. Two swords swung in from the left, the knights’ shields covering each other infuriatingly well.

“Julie!” Her Persona answered the call, wind racing through Akiza’s ear as her other self dashed forward and caught both incoming blows with her own elongated, burning blade. Akiza crouched, springing up and planting both feet on the unprepared knights’ shields, taking advantage of their tight formation and pivoting to stab her rapier down an opening in the right-most knight’s helmet. The thing howled, and she dug in, carving through its neck when she kicked off onto the wall.

She felt _limitless_. Her speed was boundless, and she only had to _push_. Akiza tucked her legs in and kicked off again towards the first knight, who’d only just finished recovering, and jammed her sword through its head. Together they landed hard, Akiza in a crouch while the knight clattered helplessly to the ground, dissolving soon after.

Standing, she eyed the two knights who were still turning around to catch up. Akiza tightened her grip on the handle and brought it up as a fist against her heart, blade poised skyward. She extended a finger forward in judgement.

“Ravage them!”

One of Julie’s hands planted over her own heart, other palm facing out in much the same pose, and from it poured a stream of red and white. A feeling like fingernails on a chalkboard made manifest peeled through the air in a wavy pattern that raced toward their targets. The knights shuddered and convulsed as the light penetrated their armor entirely, coming out on the other end as mist that lifted upwards before disappearing. In the blink of an eye, both knights dissolved to nothing.

Ann took the opportunity to bring Ryuji farther away from the bend, taking cover while Morgana was still being pushed back. Their ally had lost enough ground that Akiza could finally see the fight for herself. His Persona managed to bat aside a swipe from the captain’s lance, but the knight’s arm only pulled back and pushed forward again in an instant, piercing the black-clad swordsman’s chest. Morgana howled, knocked back in tandem with his Persona.

“Morgana!” Akiza shouted. Soon the two knights on the drawbridge would be charging down their side. It was impossible to leave Ryuji and Ann undefended, but there had to be _some_ way to help, right?

“Heh, keep your eyes forward, newbie. I can handle myself.” Morgana drew himself up, wincing as he waved a cutlass taller than he was around. “Witness my resolve! ZORRO!”

Wind whipped itself into existence, a visible force tinted green that pulled _hard_ down the hall. The pegasus’ hooves scraped against the cobblestone, unable to find purchase, while Morgana smirked, his Persona gone. The captain grunted, taking hold of the reins and pulling back. The beast rose off the ground, neighing as it reared back before slamming down again, wings as unfurled as possible in the hall.

Morgana fixed his eyes ahead, cutlass held low and steady in both paws while the enraged pegasus charged forward; and when the reins were jerked back again, prompting it to take flight, Morgana leapt in the air with it, scoring a black gash along the creature’s belly as it passed. Pained as it was, the pegasus managed to take flight regardless, beginning to swoop through the wide room.

“Man, this is not good,” Ryuji grunted, being helped up by Ann. “I’ve gotta--” He took a step forward, strain visible. There was a flash of those blue flames, there and gone again in an instant, leaving Ryuji to hiss in pain and fall back into Ann’s arms.

“Stop that! You’ve done enough,” Ann hushed him, pulling them away into the now empty hall, both still peeking around the corner to watch.

Turning ahead again, Akiza watched as the two knights stopped, holding their ground just ahead of the drawbridge. The captain was in the process of turning through the air in order to come around for a charge. Akiza bit the bottom of her lip, brow furrowed. The small sound of Morgana’s steps plinked along until they caught up to her.

“Morgana, do you know anything that might help us here?” Akiza said quickly.

He scowled. “That knight and its pegasus are obviously just one Shadow. Any damage to either will help us get rid of it faster. And…” His eyes glowed golden for a moment. “I can tell they’re weak to lightning. You used curse magic earlier, do you know any lightning too?”

Far ahead, the pegasus had finished turning and began to pick up speed, charging through the air and angling towards them.

“No. Ryuji does, but…” she shook her head. “You don’t either?”

“Just wind,” he nodded.

The captain’s lance raised as it passed over the other two knights, and the pegasus hit the ground at full gallop, the thunderous sound bouncing off the walls. They were forty feet out when Akiza yelled out a command.

“Grab onto me!” To his credit, Morgana didn’t hesitate. He hopped onto her back, looping an arm around her neck to keep hold. Time seemed to slow down as she leapt off the path entirely, hanging over the raging waters beneath and barely managing to vacate the space where hooves trampled by and an angled out lance would have doubtless skewered them. Her free arm shot out to the side. “JULIE!”

**With pleasure.**

In a flash her Persona appeared again, both of them taking hold of each others’ arms in turn, and for the briefest of moments, they defied gravity. Julie pulled Akiza along and swung both of them around in a half-circle, tossing her and Morgana back onto the path before disappearing again. If it were possible, Akiza would have liked more time to still her heart, but there was no such thing.

“Smooth moves,” Morgana praised, dropping from her back once they landed. It would be a little while before the captain could make another pass, and she wondered if he’d fall for the same trick twice. Her eyes scanned rapidly for something to use, an advantage to press, the way she always had in fights when she was younger. The barely swinging cages in the air caught her eye, drawbridge chains not far away. Her mind reeled as she traced a route and made a decision. Akiza pointed forward, to the two knights still blocking the bridge.

“I need to get to that bridge. I have an idea, but I’ll need your help. Can I count on you?”

“Of course! What kind of thief do you take me for?”

Despite everything, Akiza smiled. “We’ll have to be fast,” and sprinted ahead, Morgana hot on her tail. He called on Zorro again, and more of that green wind ripped between the knights, buffeting them to the side and breaking up their formation. Either Morgana’s cutlass was sharper than she’d thought, or he was a lot stronger than he’d let on, because somehow the blade cleaved straight through the knight on the right _and_ its armor, leaving only wisps of black behind.

 _What did he say?_ Akiza wondered. _This place is based off cognition?_

She didn’t have time to apply the thought, though, instead whipping her leg forward once she’d caught up, positioned directly to the side of the thoroughly off-center knight, and put all of her weight into the motion. Boot met shield, and the knight’s sabatons failed to find purchase before it was sent reeling off the edge and into the raging waters beneath.

Breathing hard, Akiza broke into a run one last time, feeling the burn in her legs as every effort was beginning to catch up. Setting a foot down on the railing of the bridge, eyes on the draw-chain, she spoke again. “On my signal, I need you to give me a burst of wind that will lift me up.”

“What’s the signal?” Morgana asked, tone serious.

“You’ll know,” was all she could say before leaping off the side and taking hold of the chain, climbing the length until it felt possible to leap over to the cage. It was probably ten feet away horizontally, and a fair bit more than that vertically, though gravity would take care of that part pretty fast. The drawbridge chains were way too tight to swing on, but at least that meant they’d provide a fair bit of resistance when she jumped off.

On the other end of the long passage, the captain had finally finished slowing down enough to start turning around.

Akiza leapt. She heard Ann and Ryuji shout. Gravity caught up in exactly the way she thought it would, and her hands grabbed at the edge of the cage. It began to swing, chain creaking as it moved, but the added grip of her gloves and newfound strength were enough to help pull herself up. Her footing at the top was uncertain-- the bars weren’t thick enough to stand on without placing her feet across two at a time, and she needed to wrap an arm around the chain to keep herself steady.

Something clicked with her, and not a moment too soon.

_Cognition… I just have to think it?_

She took a breath, and heard the pegasus’ charge as it started to pick up speed. It wouldn’t be long now.

**Stand tall, darling. Make your challenge. Let them hear it.**

The cage would rock regardless. The walls of this place weren’t hers to change. But her footing? The projection of her voice? Those were _her_ tools. _She_ was in control of those things.

“I won’t let you hurt them any more!”

The captain roared. Akiza let go of the chain and took a measured pose, perfectly balanced. Steely grey eyes leveled themselves at the captain’s, rapier pointed out, while the Shadow leveled its own lance. As the distance closed itself, forty feet out, thirty, twenty, she bent her knees and _leapt_ into the air, directly into the beast’s path.

“NOW!”

Morgana’s wind was harsh, but shot her up quickly. Akiza twisted midair, the blade of the rapier taken into her free hand and hooked out flat in front of the knight’s chest to catch on. She jerked forward through the air as the blade dug into her palm, able to fight against the wind after a moment and kick her legs down, finding some purchase on the pegasus’ back.

The blade wasn’t enough to pierce the knight’s armor, so the Shadow took this opportunity to jerk an elbow back, heavy metal slamming into her side. Akiza hissed but grit her teeth, eyes watering, and held on.

“Julie! Bring us down!”

At once, her Persona appeared again, arms wrapped around the captain’s sides just as her own were. From one of her palms _poured_ curses, streaming directly into the captain’s crimson armor and escaping through any number of openings. Being in such close proximity with the effect, Akiza could feel her bones rattling, unpleasant and sickening. She had no _idea_ what it must have been doing to the Shadow itself.

The captain screamed, an incoherent, grotesque sound that began to gutter out almost as soon as it had begun. Akiza could feel the Shadow becoming less solid under her by the second, and somehow she’d failed to plan for this part. As they diverted course, zooming towards a wall, there wasn’t a single convenient cage or chain to hop off onto.

“Oh, damn,” Akiza muttered. Julie disappeared, and she tucked herself in, abandoning ship and bringing her arms and legs up in front to try and break the fall somehow. Fortunately, the moment of impact wasn’t nearly so harsh as it could have been as another gust of Morgana’s wind managed to slow her down before hitting the wall, and then catch her entirely before she hit the ground. As soon as it disappeared, Akiza fell the last few inches with an unceremonious “oof.”

**A duel well fought. I commend you on your first victory of many.**

The not-cat responsible for making sure none of her bones were broken came running up, panting slightly, and looked less than happy as she gingerly sat up.

“What the heck was that!?” he began, making animated gestures. “If I’d known your plan was to throw yourself over a pit twice in a row, I wouldn’t have said yes!”

“You didn’t say anything bad the first time I jumped over a pit,” she countered. “I even had you with me that time.”

“You weren’t jumping directly at a high-level Shadow the first time!” Morgana harrumphed as Ann and Ryuji rushed over to her, the boy limping slightly. Ann’s face was a blend of incredulous, furious, and excited as she stomped towards Akiza.

“I _just_ got done telling you to stop being so reckless, and the second you get superpowers, you decide to start pulling stunts like that?” She crossed her arms, tapping her foot impatiently even while she offered Akiza a hand to get up.

Akiza could only shrug sheepishly, accepting the help and then slipping her rapier into the sheath on her hip. “I just… I dunno, it’s like I went on autopilot. You guys were in danger, and the only thought in my head was how I could keep you two safe. Everything else just kinda… went out the window.” Ryuji, caught up now, nodded vigorously.

“Yeah, that’s exactly what it was like for me! It’s like, you kinda laser in one the one thing, and your body just _knows_ how to make that happen.” Ann sighed, appearing to grudgingly accept those answers.

“Fine, okay.” Her frown flickered, melting into a small smile. “Thanks for protecting me. We’d probably be dead if it weren’t for you two.”

“Oh, you smiled,” Ryuji said earnestly. It took Ann a moment to process the remark, a finger touching where the smile had been.

“... Oh. Yeah, I guess I did. Is that weird?” she asked.

“Nah. I just, you know, hadn’t seen it in a while.”

It felt like a moment where awkwardness should have been, but instead Ryuji was wearing a warm, sweet smile that was completely unlike all the grins he’d had before. Akiza touched one of her cheeks.

_Cute…_

The sound of someone clearing their throat drew everyone’s eyes down, where an incensed Morgana had his paws on his hips.

“If you three are done making eyes at each other, can we focus on getting out of this Palace?” The students all promptly looked in different directions at that, becoming intensely interested in literally anything besides meeting each others’ gazes.

Morgana huffed and set off towards the door he’d indicated before, holding out a paw at the same time. Wispy green energy coalesced around Ryuji and Akiza, completely different from the wind magic they’d seen earlier. It was a rush of energy that didn’t take away all the pain, but went a hell of a long way in making it easier to move, and stopped her minor bleeding. Ryuji stood up straighter, no longer leaning on his good leg, and rolled a shoulder as Morgana spoke again. “It’s through this way. Keep your voices down and let me take point. Black hair, you bring up the rear.”

They hurried after him, Akiza stopping briefly to pick up her miraculously unharmed glasses.

* * *

Beyond the doors was a tall, cylindrical room with a massive spiral staircase, just like the one they’d come down before arriving at the dungeons. Mercifully, it was free of Shadows. As they climbed the steps, Ryuji piped up with a question.

“Hey, how come she gets to keep her cool outfit but I lost mine and passed out?”

“Probably because of the nature of her awakening,” Morgana hazarded. “If the catalyst for yours was something like ‘I need to get them out of here,’ then it’s only natural that your burst of energy would run out as soon as that was done. But if hers were something like ‘I need to keep them safe,’ then hers will probably hold until you’re all to safety.”

“That sounds like what I was thinking, yeah,” Akiza said. “I don’t feel as powerful now as I did a few minutes ago, but still more than normal.”

After another minute of climbing, Morgana stopped them outside a great door part-way up the staircase.

“It’s through here,” he whispered. The door was pushed open ever so gently - only barely enough to allow them to look into the room beyond. It was some kind of sitting room, with a table and some chairs as the center-piece. Racks of barrels were arranged along the far wall, and there were a set of open windows above that. Compared to where they’d just been, the decor here was much more in line with the rest of the castle.

A single knight guarded the room.

“Okay, as my last ‘thank you’ for busting me out, I’m gonna teach you guys one more thing about Palaces,” whispered Morgana. He gathered the three of them into a huddle farther away from the door. “If you unmask a Shadow, it removes them from the Palace’s network. If they can’t communicate, they can’t call out for reinforcements, and it will take much longer for the Palace to notice anything’s missing. Unmasking them also reveals a Shadow’s true form, which can be either weaker or stronger than its masked form. For low-level grunts like these, they’ll almost always be weaker.”

He looked to Akiza. “You’re gonna take it by surprise and pull its mask off. Then we defeat its true form and you guys can leave through the windows.”

“What about you?” Ann asked. “Aren’t you coming too?”

Morgana shook his head. “My investigation of this Palace still isn’t complete. I need to stay here and fully explore the place so I can figure out how to fix it.”

“Fix it?” Ryuji piped up. “How do you fix a place like _this_?”

“By making it disappear. I-It’s not important, you three just need to leave before you get hurt worse than I can heal. Are you ready to do this?” He turned to Akiza, who nodded. “Good. You know what to do, so go for it.”

Akiza sidled up to the door again, peeking out into the room. Just near the door was a tall chair she could hide behind, out of the knight’s field of vision and much closer to it. With speed and guile she nudged the door open just enough to slip through, immediately grateful that the thing hadn’t squeaked when she pushed.

 _Like clockwork,_ Akiza thought. When the knight came close enough to her position, dashed forward, using the table as a footstool to get on top of the hunched Shadow’s back and grip its mask in one hand. The metal came free with minimal resistance, showering the area in the same black that wounding them had, before it evaporated and a new form took the knight’s place. A tiny pixie in a blue leotard.

“Hey, what’s the big deal!?” It cried, dashing towards Akiza. She sidestepped its charge as the door opened fully and the other three rushed in, Ryuji grabbing a poker from the nearby fireplace and brandishing it like his missing pipe. Almost humiliatingly, for all their previous ability, neither could manage to land a hit on the thing. Ryuji swung wildly, clanging against the table a few times while Akiza tried to predict where it’d go, but the pixie kept just barely getting away, firing little needles of light that stung more and more with each passing hit.

“I can’t hit this freakin’ thing!” Ryuji cried after a particularly close miss. They worked together to try and back it into a corner, only for it to fly over both their heads and, coincidentally, right next to Ann.

The blonde screamed and, acting on complete instinct, clocked the pixie directly with her fist. It dropped from the air, crumpling to the floor. The other three boggled at her for a moment as she shook her hand, shrugging and grinning sheepishly.

A groaning noise from the pixie returned their attention to the matter at hand, and Akiza aimed her rapier at the Shadow, ready to strike, before it cried out.

“W-wait! Hang on, don’t kill me! Let me come with you?”

“Come with me?” she asked, furrowing her brow. “What do you--” Her question was cut off as the pixie began dissolving into bluish-white light, forming the shape of a mask just like Akiza’s own. It flew onto her face, merging with the one already there, and she felt an odd tingling sensation rush through her.

The Persona known as Pixie resided within her now, alongside Julie.

Akiza indicated that she was fine, leading Ann and Ryuji to relax, if only somewhat. Morgana, meanwhile, frowned before fixing her with an intense gaze.

“Change of plans,” he said. “I’m sticking with you guys. She has a special power, beyond that of a normal Persona user. I’ll explain later, but for now, we can get out of here.” He dashed over to the shelves beneath the window, scurrying up them as the teens followed suit.

“Hey, Ryuji, gimme a boost,” Ann said. He obliged, locking his fingers together and squatting down to let her plant a foot there before hoisting her to where she could grab the ledge and haul herself up. He coughed, turning his gaze away with a red-flushed face as he realized the position he was in once Akiza went up as well. Grabbing his arms, the girls hauled him up, and all four dropped quietly out the other side of the window. The courtyard they had come in through was mercifully unguarded, and the drawbridge had at some point been lowered. Sticking to the shadows just in case, they scurried out of the Palace and back into reality.

* * *

Stumbling out into the alleyway was a strange experience. Akiza found herself looking down at her Shujin uniform, feeling both empty for not having her outfit on and also strangely full, in a sense. She could sense Julie within her, and Pixie to a lesser extent.

 **I am a part of you, my darling,** Julie filled in. **Accepting me has moved you towards a more whole state of being.**

 _How do you mean?_ She dusted herself off, checking to make sure everything was still in place.

**Awakening your power was but the first step of your journey. As you grow, so too will your powers. I will be with you, my dear. The dance has only just begun.**

Akiza felt Julie’s presence shrink away, still with her, but dormant, ready to answer when called. A clamoring from behind made her turn around, watching Ryuji and Ann stumble over each other as they fell out of the Palace, narrowly avoiding landing in a heap in the puddle beneath them. Ryuji shook his head, working his shoulder muscles to relieve the ache.

“Man, it feels so weird to be back in the real world. How long were we in there for?”

“Looks like…” Ann scrunched up her face looking at her phone. “Six minutes? There’s no way…”

“Time moves differently in the Metaverse,” chirped a voice from below them. “Hours in there might only be minutes out here. And from what I can tell you weren’t in there all that long anyways.”

The students locked gazes before tracking their eyes slowly down to their feet.

Sitting proudly on the dry patch of concrete was a black cat with white markings and a yellow collar adorning its neck.

Akiza was the first to speak up.

“So, uh, about the whole ‘not a cat’ thing…”

“Still not a cat!” Morgana interjected, cutting her off. “This is the most convenient form I have to disguise myself with in the real world. I’m coming with you to make sure you don’t do anything reckless.” With that, he leapt up towards Akiza, grabbing onto her skirt with his claws before hauling himself up and around to her shoulder, despite her cries of protest.

“Hey, this is brand new! Get your claws out of it!” Ann and Ryuji merely giggled at her plight, observing the self-satisfied kitty perched atop her shoulder.

“Hate to break it to you Morgana, but you can’t exactly come to school with us. They don’t really let cats in there.” He cocked his head, ears flopping slightly.

“School? I don’t know what that is.”

Ryuji stared at him. “W-what do you mean, ya don’t know what school is!? It’s like, the one thing everybody has to do! It sucks!” Morgana merely scratched behind his ear in response.

“Sounds boring. But, I suppose I’ll go if I have to. I’ll hide in here!” He dove into Akiza’s school bag, again to her protest before she gave up, deciding that she must be stuck with this talking cat now.

“Oh, crap!” Ann jumped, looking at her phone again. “Homeroom starts in two minutes, we gotta _go!_ ” Morgana yelped as Akiza shoved him down into the bag, zipping it almost closed and dashing down the alleyway after Ann and Ryuji.

* * *

The girls had quickly exchanged contact info with Ryuji before hurrying into Shujin, Ann having kindly offered to show Akiza the guidance office. The fact that both girls were in the same class was an added bonus that made her smile a little wider as Kawakami walked them to the classroom. The teacher had Akiza stand at the front of the room before proceedings began. Akiza, meanwhile, found her gaze focused on a boy with dark blue hair sitting near the front, face covered in bruises and bandages. He was looking down and away from everything, like he was trying his best to fade from view.

“Okay, class,” Kawakami began, voice just as uninterested as the last time they had met. “Today I’d like to introduce a transfer student, Akiza Kurusu. Please say something to the class.”

Akiza chewed the inside of her cheek, gaze flitting around the room. She _hated_ being put on the spot like this. Briefly locking eyes with Ann helped set her at ease.

“Hi there,” she said simply, with an easygoing smile. “It’s nice to meet you all.”

“Your seat will be the empty one near the window. The people nearby her will need to share their textbooks for today.” Akiza heard a general murmur through the room as she moved to her seat, directly behind Ann.

“...seems quiet, but I bet she loses it when she gets mad…”

“... _did_ get arrested for assault…”

“...can’t believe they put her in our class…”

Her best efforts to tune them out were proving ineffective. Ann flashed a sympathetic smile as Akiza passed by, which she returned. It only seemed to add to the whispers, though.

“Wait, do those two know each other?”

“Ugh, I _knew_ Takamaki swung that way. _So_ gross.”

“Does this mean she’s cheating on Mr. Kamoshida?”

“I mean, this _is_ Takamaki…”

Akiza grimaced. Sadly, it didn’t surprise her that the other girl attracted rumors like that. Bright blonde hair and good looks were magnets for insinuation and lies. Still, one of those whispers nagged at her.

_Is Ann close with Kamoshida…?_

Thinking back to the palace, the man had mentioned something about her ‘finally embracing his invitations’. But, Ann had _also_ grabbed her to use as a disguise and avoid an encounter with him.

A pit of dread settled in her stomach as she considered that this ‘relationship’ might not be entirely voluntary on Ann’s part. What had Morgana said? Palaces were shaped by the way their rulers viewed the world? If Kamoshida was the king of his castle, and the castle represented the school, and the guards had mentioned a ‘Princess Ann’...

Akiza’s train of thought kept chugging along, arriving at conclusion after conclusion that only made her more concerned as they kept fitting into logical places. The whispers about her were only a little upsetting by comparison.

* * *

Class was the furthest thing from her mind that morning, and the lunch bell was a blessed relief. Ann turned to her immediately.

“Grab lunch with me?” Her head tilted to one side just slightly, and that same little smile graced her lips. Akiza was all too eager to accept.

“Y-yeah, thanks.” She walked with Ann, following her to a secluded part of the courtyard, out of sight from most students near some vending machines.

“Ryuji’s gonna meet with us in a bit. What do you want?” Ann asked, standing at the machine and keying in something for herself.

“Oh, no, I’ll get something myself, you don’t have to--” she was cut off as Ann passed her a bottle of fruit juice.

“It’s not much, but it’s a little bit of a thanks for earlier.” That little smile popped up again, and Akiza had the sense that it was probably being held down by something. After a moment of picking at the bag of chips she’d grabbed from the machine, Akiza spoke up.

“Hey, so… Sorry if this is a sore subject, but I couldn’t help hearing people talk when we got to class. Is something going on with you and Kamoshida?”

Ann’s whole body tensed for a moment, then loosened again. “It’s…” she sighed. “He’s been… _interested_ in me for a while now. He always offers to drive me to school if he sees me walking. That’s why I asked you to help me hide. I _hate_ that he makes me have to dodge around like this, and I hate the rumors. I can’t believe people think I’d actually go out with a creep like him…”

Akiza merely listened, not sure what to say, or sure if she should say anything at all.

“He’s the school’s volleyball coach, and my best friend is in a starting position on the team this semester, so I can’t really say no to him. I couldn’t bear to see Shiho lose her starting position, but I just…”

“You don’t like him having this power over both of you?” Akiza offered. Ann nodded.

“Yeah, something like that. It makes me feel like I’m some sort of object, y’know? Everyone thinks I’m some slut because of my looks and because of Kamoshida. Shiho is the only real friend I have at this school who doesn’t see me like that.” She shrugged, taking a sip of her drink. “Well, she _was_ my only friend, I guess.” She nudged Akiza to punctuate her sentence, and the two girls shared a bashful grin as Ryuji rounded the corner.

“Sup,” he greeted, plopping himself down on the bench opposite them. “Almost had a run in with Kamoshida, but I think the coast is clear, we just gotta keep our voices down. I swear, that bastard hasn’t looked at me like that since track…” At that, there came a rustling from Akiza’s bag, and Morgana’s head popped out.

“Thank goodness, I can breathe! It’s _so_ stuffy in here,” he complained. “So, it sounds like you two are having a rough time with this Kamoshida guy?”

“More’n just us,” Ryuji grumbled. “He makes life suck for way too many people at this school. And no matter what he does, the other teachers won’t do anything about him, just ‘cause he’s some olympic medalist.”

“He gives the school a good reputation,” Ann added. “So they don’t wanna risk driving away their bigshot athletics coach.”

“And do you have any proof you could use against him?” Morgana cocked his head. It wasn’t a sarcastic question, just a genuine inquiry. Ann sighed dejectedly.

“Nothing concrete, no. He just… implies a lot of stuff around me, and I keep having to dodge his advances.” Ryuji, for his money, was more animated.

“Nothin’ that’d stick. He goddamn broke my leg the last time I tried to confront him, that’s why I fell down in the Palace. He called it self-defense so _I_ got in trouble for it. Then he broke up the track team just to rub salt in the wound.”

Morgana thought for a long moment, Akiza watching his feline face scrunch up in contemplating before he spoke again.

“... I might have an idea of how we can change that.” Ann and Ryuji’s responses were mixed; Ryuji furrowed his brow in confusion, while Ann’s eyebrows shot up in disbelief. “That Palace is shaped by his cognition -- the way he imagines the world, subconsciously. If he’s hurting people in the real world…”

“Then he’d be hurting the fake versions of them in the Palace,” Akiza finished. Morgana nodded proudly.

“Ohhh, like those prisoners you guys told me about! So all of them are, like, based on real people? Then if we find out who they are, we can confront ‘em about it out here and get some real dirt on him!” Ryuji’s face lit up, shark’s grin splitting his face.

“And maybe more than that,” Morgana clarified. “I’m not a hundred percent sure yet, but I’m thinking there might even be more we can do with the Palace. I’ll need to scout around the place, though.”

“I didn’t catch anyone besides Daiki-san…” she said, quietly. “So, what you’re saying is we need to go back to that castle.” Ann put her chin in her hand, thinking. After a moment, she looked up, face steeled in determination. “Let’s do it. I can’t let a chance like this pass me by.”

“Uh, are ya sure that’s a good idea?” Ryuji awkwardly scratched the back of his head. Akiza piped up as well, for the first time in a few minutes.

“You’re the only one of us that can’t fight. I’d be worried about you getting hurt.” Ann shook her head, fixing Akiza with a stern gaze. Her sapphire eyes had turned hard as diamonds.

“I don’t care. I’ve been putting up with his bullshit for too long. I’m coming with you, and you can’t stop me.”

“You wouldn’t have to be entirely defenseless, though.” Morgana sat in a way Akiza was already beginning to understand meant ‘listen to me.’ “The Metaverse being rooted in cognition would give us a lot of advantages. For instance, if we were to bring realistic enough fake weapons in, as long as the Shadows think they’re real, they’ll work like they are.” He butted his head against Akiza’s knee as if to indicate her. “Your rapier was as basic as they come, since your awakening just sorta cobbled it together. But if you brought in a physical object, it’d be _much_ stronger.”

“Yoooo, could we bring in, like, fake guns?” Ryuji was leaning forward, one leg bouncing in excitement, eyes wide. “I know this airsoft place in Shibuya that sells _super_ realistic stuff. If we had Personas _and_ guns, we’d be unstoppable!”

“Do you know _how_ to shoot a gun, Ryuji?” Ann folded her arms, frowning at him. He scratched his head again.

“W-well, uh, not… not specifically, no, but how hard can it be? People do it on TV all the time! A-and it’s like Morgana said, it’s all about cognition, right? So, like, as long as we act like we know what we’re doing, it’ll work!” He looked to Morgana with an almost pleading expression, like he was praying that he’d actually understood correctly. Morgana sighed, ears dropping.

“That’s… a crude explanation, but not a _wrong_ one. If the Shadows think your gun will fire when you pull the trigger, it will. Ryuji’s idea is solid, you should go stock up so that everybody has a ranged weapon. Including Ann, so she can defend herself if need be.”

“That’s the plan, then,” Akiza decided, looking each of her companions in the eye. “Tomorrow after school, we get geared up, then head back here to investigate the castle. Time passes slower in there, so we won’t be gone too long. Any objections?” Ann and Ryuji met her gaze with firm agreement.

“No question.”

“We’re gonna take this bastard down.”

* * *

The second half of the school day passed uneventfully. Morgana had taken to hiding in the storage space under her desk, curled up in the back to avoid detection. All the while, Akiza could only think about what she was getting herself into.

Between the supernatural powers she and Ryuji had shown, plus the existence of the otherworld of the Metaverse, she had to conclude that the dream she’d had that first night was no dream. Igor and Lavenza, they’d called themselves, and they sure sounded like they knew what was going on. She cursed herself for not having asked how to return to the Velvet Room, or how to contact them. Then again, she’d mostly been in shock for that entire visit.

The final bell of the day snapped her out of her contemplation. Morgana scampered back into her bag as she stood, Ann bidding her goodbye, explaining that she was going to see Shiho. Akiza didn’t begrudge her; from what she’d surmised, Shiho sounded like she was in a rough spot. Still, it hurt her a little in a way she couldn’t quite pinpoint to watch Ann walk out of the classroom without her. Before she could leave for the train station, she was stopped by Kawakami.

“Kurusu, I need to talk to you for a second.” Akiza’s mental hackles went up instantly. Did she suspect something already? They hadn’t even been late to class. Perhaps she’d caught sight of Morgana at some point?

“Um, sure. Is something wrong, Ms. Kawakami?” Despite her internal semi-panic, her voice was moderated and even as always. Lying came almost as easily to Akiza as breathing. Kawakami sighed, looking put-upon as always.

“I saw that you were hanging around with Sakamoto at lunch. I’m warning you not to get too involved with him. He has… something of a reputation around here, and with all the rumors going around regarding your transfer, it wouldn’t be good to get caught up in even more trouble.” Before Akiza could answer, Kawakami was already off, leaving her to stand there in confusion. Ryuji had a good head on his shoulders, even if he didn’t come across as the smartest person in the room. As she was about to round the corner and head down the stairs, she heard a familiar voice. She stopped, leaning casually against the wall and pretending to look at something on her phone.

“I do not foresee it being an issue. The potential gains from this strategy far outweigh the risks.” The principal, Akiza recognized, was walking up the stairs and facing away from her. Alongside him was a tall man, with muscular arms and a square jaw.

“But it’s already showing signs of being an issue,” said the taller man. Akiza bit the inside of her lip, frowning.

 _That’s the same voice as the king_ , she thought. _This must be Kamoshida…_

“I simply don’t understand why you allowed that transfer student to attend Shujin. First day, and already associating with Sakamoto. A student with a criminal record, and the culprit of an assault cause no less?” He put his hands on his hips, shaking his head. “At this rate, it’ll be pointless how much I contribute to this school.”

Akiza’s eyebrow twitched, and she mentally admonished herself for letting it get to her.

“Now, don’t be like that,” the principal fretted. “This school depends on you, Kamoshida-kun! You are our star! Still, a steady build-up behind such brilliance can only help us. Think of the goodwill that will come our way when we can report that we have successfully rehabilitated a problem child like that? Not to mention how progressive we will seem.”

She clenched her teeth together, fingernails of her free hand digging into her palm.

“Your troubles never seem to end, do they principal Kobayakawa?” Kamoshida chuckled. “Alright, I understand. I’ll continue to do my best to answer your expectations, of course.”

The dark-haired girl let out a shaky breath, forcing herself to relax as the two men parted ways. They seemed not to have noticed her.

**At last, your quarry has been sighted. They make no effort to conceal their motives.**

Julie’s voice in her head startled her briefly as she proceeded down the stairs. _They make me sick, the both of them. All they care about is reputation. Is that all I am to them? A resource, volatile enough to cost them their reputation, but risky enough to boost their image if I behave?_

**It seems that way, ma chérie. Remember this anger. It will guide your blade when you need it.**

She felt Julie fade into the background again. The presence of someone else in her head was… strange, to say the least. She felt herself growing accustomed to it already, however, as she rode the train back to Leblanc.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Julie draws inspiration from Julie d'Aubigny, a French opera singer from the 17th century who was known as an expert duelist and flouted gender norms with her clothing choices and her romantic pursuits, as she was openly bisexual, having male and female partners throughout her life. She was wanted in several major cities throughout France for her exploits in illegal duelling and, according to some accounts, setting fire to a room in a convent in order to rescue her then-lover. One story describes her as wearing men's clothes to a society ball, kissing another young woman openly, and then defeating six noblemen in duels that night before fleeing the city.
> 
> Audi was instrumental this chapter, as they were responsible for the fight scene that comprises a huge amount of this update. We decided to sort of breeze through Morgana's explanations, mostly to save hassle. We all know how the Metaverse works, we don't need an in-depth refresher unless something is different from canon.
> 
> The art of Julie is once again provided by Shenpai [@AeroViro](https://twitter.com/aeroviro). I'd also like to thank her for promoting this fic on her twitter!
> 
> Speaking of which, you can find me on twitter [@SuperRabbitTank](https://twitter.com/superrabbittank) if you'd like to get in touch.
> 
> \- **Rabbit**
> 
> I don't have much to say that Rabbit didn't already. This fight was a lot of fun to write; like I said last chapter, all the set-pieces in P5 are so _dynamic_ so there's a lot of room for great action, as direct as in these last couple chapters or otherwise. Morgana's an awfully fun character to write, haha. 
> 
> \- **Audible**
> 
> Thank you for reading!


	4. All My Friends

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No content warnings today, but probably an epilepsy warning on the song linked below.  
> Today's Chapter Title: [All My Friends](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qYyU019PbI)

_4/11_

Some small part of Akiza had expected getting home to somehow become just as difficult as getting to school had been, but she was thankful to be proven wrong.

Morgana, half-leaning out of Akiza’s bag with paws on her shoulder, had helped to formulate a plan to convince Sojiro to let her ‘keep’ him on the way back. Before arriving at the cafe, she set the bag down and let him hop out near Sojiro’s house.

“See you soon,” she waved, walking away.

When Akiza stepped through the door to Leblanc, Sojiro was working the grinder in the back. The smell of coffee and curry was fresh, and a few young adults had taken up the bar, talking loudly.

Sojiro had already complained openly about customers a couple times after they’d left in front of her before, so she decided not to add onto anything and just gave a short “I’m back,” and got out of the way, heading towards the stairs. For some reason that seemed to surprise the man, but he wasn’t in a position to do much more than nod anyways.

The day passed surprisingly fast. For how tired she thought she’d be, taking the cleaning step by step had given her the momentum she needed to keep going. Beneath all the clutter in her room, she’d discovered an impressively well-tooled workbench, and whatever wasn’t garbage she tucked away in the small storage area across from the stairs.

Akiza let out a breath, clapping the dust of her hands and placing them on her hips with a smile. The space was finally clean, and only _mostly_ looked like an attic. The bare bulbs hanging from the rafters would need some kind of fixture hanging on them eventually, and there wasn’t much to do in the space, but it was… nice. Working on a space, and being able to call it hers just felt… nice.

Steps sounded on the stairs, and Sojiro’s head poked out. “I’m gonna close up in a sec. You need to use the shower?”

“Yes, thank you!” Akiza chirped, picking up her bag of essentials from its shelf.

“You’re in a good mood today, huh?” Sojiro commented as she followed him out the door of the cafe. “School went well then?” She smiled again, taking in a deep breath. She could almost _feel_ Julie humming just beneath her skin, and the confidence the Persona filled her with was intoxicating.

“It did! I even made a couple friends.” She hummed. “And, there’s something nice about a new beginning, even if it’s not for the best reasons.”

“Well, look at you go, making friends already,” the words seemed to automatically leave his mouth, before he spared her a glance, then turned his attention to the gate of the house. His voice dropped some. “Just, uh, make sure you don’t get mixed up in a bad crowd, alright? That’d be the last thing I need.”

“Don’t worry. They’re good people.” The statement was firm, and positive.

Altogether their exchange had been, Akiza felt, equal parts truth and lies by omission. As much as she hadn’t met Ryuji and Ann under conventional circumstances, they still _had_ met, and she was grateful for it. On some level she had simply expected to simply ghost through her year at Shujin, making no real friends and trying to get by unnoticed.

Now she had a friend in her own class.

Even the rumors swirling around her were better than expected, focusing on her criminal record rather than the infinitely worse alternative.

Sojiro let her into the house without needing to clean up this time, and to her delight, after two days she didn’t feel the need to shave her legs.

* * *

Akiza and Morgana’s plan worked flawlessly. As they exited Sojiro’s house, Morgana had come ambling around the corner, cocking his head and playing up the ‘cutesy stray cat’ vibe as hard as possible. He’d even gone as far as to trot over to Akiza and butt his head against her shins. Sojiro had folded under exactly zero pressure, allowing Morgana to live with Akiza on the assumption that needing to care for a pet would keep her on her best behavior.

Presently, Akiza padded up to the attic, having already changed into her sleeping clothes, and set her bag on the same shelf again. Morgana had already made himself comfortable at the foot of her bed.

“Gotta say, this place isn’t exactly… glamorous. I’d have thought you were squatting in some abandoned building if I hadn’t seen the cafe downstairs.”

Akiza scoffed, sitting down on the bed and plugging her phone in to charge. “Well excuse me, your imperial majesty, for not having been sent to a five-star hotel as my probation housing.” The not-cat let out a single laugh, and Akiza was struck for the first time at how strange it was to watch a cat’s face emote like a human’s. Or, really, to be talking to a cat at all. She had to put aside all those thoughts for now though.

“I didn’t say I didn’t like it, you know.” Morgana shifted his position, sitting up to face her. “It’s got a cozy feel to it. Plus, living above a cafe? Perfect for a dashing rogue like yourself.”

“C’mon, me? A dashing rogue? _Clearly_ I’m a daring duelist. You saw the rapier.” Akiza chuckled as she settled the comforter around her legs before sighing. “So, I have a few questions.”

“Only a few?” Morgana chirped, tilting his head.

“Maybe more. We’ll get to it.” She adjusted, bringing her knees up. “So, what made you change your mind about following me after we left the Palace? And, I guess, why me at all?” The black-and-white cat hopped down from the bed, pacing in a circle as he thought.

“... Your power is unique.” He looked up again after deciding on an answer he liked enough. “On top of having a strong Persona of your own, you can take Shadows into yourself and make them yours. People can’t normally have multiple Personas _period_. That, plus your combat ability makes me optimistic about being able to take down Kamoshida.”

Akiza hummed. There was probably more to Morgana than she’d be able to pick up on for a while. “You said you were investigating the Palace, right? What were you looking for, exactly?”

“Trying to confirm a theory, mostly. I think I’m onto something, but I’ll need to get a better look around when we go back. If I’m right, we might have a real opportunity to do some good.”

“Right. You said something like that earlier, too. How did you even get into the Palace in the first place though? It’s not like you… have a phone?” It felt like a stupid question before she’d even finished, but if there were other ways to get to places like that, it was probably worth asking.

“Uh, no, I don’t have a phone,” he answered. “I was already in the Metaverse, so I just found a way in there.”

“Are you from there, then? The Metaverse, I mean.”

Morgana paused, almost frowning.

“I… don’t know. Not exactly, anyways. I know I was born in the Metaverse, but I can’t remember where, or who created me.” The cat looked back up at her, determination in his feline eyes. “That’s why I was investigating the Metaverse. If I’m gonna find out who I am, it’s gonna be in there.”

Akiza considered everything so far. Reading a cat was different to reading a person, and she didn’t really have a good bead on him yet anyways. Instinct told her he _probably_ wasn’t lying and, so far, it all seemed pretty straight-forward, which was surprising given how easy it would have been to not say anything at all, or just make up something else that was completely believably unbelievable.

“And,” he continued. “I think we both have a better shot at getting what we want if we stick together. You wanna take down Kamoshida, and I wanna know who I am. So if you agree to shelter me, I’ll teach you how to make tools for infiltrations. Deal?”

“... Tools?” Akiza tilted her head, blindsided by the change in direction.

“Lockpicks, smoke bombs, that kind of thing. They’ll come in handy as we explore more of the Palace,” he paused, tail swishing in what was probably anticipation. “So, do we have a deal or not?”

The dark-haired girl extended a hand to the side, patting a spot at her side, which Morgana leapt to quickly. “Deal.”

He actually _meowed_ with excitement, and eagerly placed his paw in her hand and shook.

* * *

The soft notes of a piano filled her ears, and Akiza awoke to the unearthly air of a place she barely knew.

Sitting up took effort, but it gave her time to remember everything that had been said two nights ago. For how real it felt, Akiza wondered if the Velvet Room actually existed somewhere, despite Igor’s words. There was a weight in her pocket, which she felt to be the keyring Lavenza had given her. Again, there were no words until she got up, and began to step towards the open door of her cell.

“Welcome back,” Lavenza smiled softly. “You’ve had an eventful day, hm?”

“ _Indeed_ ,” Igor supplied, still sitting at that desk, rolling a hand casually in her direction. Akiza wondered if he ever got up. The man leaned onto his elbows, a long finger pointed upwards. “It would seem your contract has been signed as predicted, and in return you have awoken to a rather rare power.”

“Personas, you mean?” Akiza walked into the open. The air felt different somehow out there. It was easier to think, maybe? Definitely less claustrophobic, at any rate.

“The very same,” he began. “And one more ability. It is among the most unique of gifts, available only to one such as yourself.” The man paused, and smiled without malice. “A time of considerable change is upon you, and though it is not without its dangers both mundane and magical, you are determined to manifest as the truest form of yourself. There is a truth in your heart, and it is one you know well. This potential for change, both within yourself and for others, has earned you the title of ‘Wild Card’.”

“Personas are the strength of heart,” Lavenza elaborated. “The greater the understanding is between yourself and others, the stronger your Personas will become. _My_ task is to manifest those bonds as power - available to be assigned and used however you see fit.”

 _I’m a ‘Wild Card’ in this game, then…_ Akiza thought. “I’m not sure I understand… are you saying _I’m_ the reason Ryuji got his own Persona? Or, is he a Wild Card too?”

Igor gestured subtly. “As you already know, the power of Persona is not unique to you. The precise workings of the heart, and more, I believe, will become clear to you in time. There are those who have been robbed of their place to belong, and in having already formed a partnership with others so similarly burdened, I have come to possess faith you will be able to arrive at your own answers.”

_Such specific phrasing…_

It was hard to tell where the line between what they’d be willing to answer and what they wouldn’t - or couldn’t - was. So Akiza turned her attention to a more immediate concern. She could still feel Julie within her, even here. But, she could also feel Pixie. Julie _was_ her, in a way, she knew. Was Pixie not? The other Persona had to be, to be a part of her in the same way, didn’t it? Akiza tilted her head towards Lavenza. “What about the other Persona I have, the one I picked up in the Palace?”

Lavenza began to turn through the pages of her book. Akiza was close enough to make out diagrams, and what were probably words beside them, although they weren’t in any language she knew. “The Persona Pixie belongs to… No, there’s no need to complicate things just yet.”

She closed the book, then looked up. “Suffice to say, part of your gift as a Wild Card is the ability to understand others. From the sea of human souls, there are many who would fight by your side, and though Pixie is not _your_ Persona, it is one of the many you are capable of housing, and will remain among the myriad you may possess at any time.”

Igor nodded once, and Akiza could feel the same distortion from before beginning to set in. “Well said. And with that, I believe our business for the night is concluded. Continue devoting yourself to your journey, and we will meet again soon enough.”

Akiza could just barely hear Lavenza over her alarm. “Until next time, Trickster.”

“...until next time.” she managed.

* * *

_4/12_

After waking up, Akiza realized two things in sequence. The first was that she was grateful going to the Velvet Room had nothing to do with her being sick before (for as mixed a bag as that was), and that she was also grateful to not be sick at all that morning. The second was that she had once again forgotten to ask how to get back to the Velvet Room.

Cursing didn’t really change anything, since it sounded like these meetings only happened on _their_ schedule, but still, it helped at least a little.

The whole thing mattered less after a breakfast of coffee and curry courtesy of Sojiro, which still surprised her to see, and probably would for a while to come. During breakfast, Akiza managed to scroll through a few primers on airsoft guns on her phone. From the way Ryuji had described the place, it sounded like an enthusiast shop, and she wasn’t one for being caught out not knowing what she was talking about.

Not a single piece of that forward thinking saved her, however, when she arrived at school, and managed to trip on the first stair of the school building. Akiza let out a yelp, and was halfway to the pavement before a hand caught her wrist, hoisting her back to her feet. She stumbled, shaking her head before a cheery voice piped up next to her.

“Oh, I’m sorry to have grabbed you so suddenly! It’s just, you know, you had tripped and I was right there and I just sort of leaped without thinking--”

“Hey, hey, slow down! It’s okay, I think I’m supposed to be the one, apologizing--? Er, no, I mean, neither of us are supposed to be… apologizing?” Akiza’s eyes fell onto the girl who had helped her, also dressed in the Shujin uniform. The redhead (almost cherry-colored, even) was shorter than her, hair tied back into a ponytail by a bright red ribbon. The other girl jittered with nervous energy for a moment before calming down, suddenly looking far more composed than her voice led on.

“Oh, maybe, but it’s no trouble at all! You’re a Shujin student too, after all. I merely did what I could. You’re a second-year, correct?” She looked down at Akiza’s lapel, noting the little “2” pinned there. “I’m a first-year myself, and I couldn’t just let my senpai hurt herself!” It was like a never-ending combo, and Akiza felt like she may as well have still been falling.

“Ah. Well, um, thank you! I, ah, really appreciate it.”

“Of course! I need to be getting to class, so, please excuse me!” With that, the girl bowed courteously and hurried into the building.

It wasn’t until lunch-time that Akiza realized she hadn’t managed to get the cherry-haired girl’s name. She paused halfway through a bite. “...Why am I so bad at asking follow-up questions?” Ann asked what that was about, but Akiza dismissed it. It didn’t seem that important.

* * *

Akiza, Ryuji, Ann, and Morgana idled near the entrance to a side street of Shibuya’s main drag to establish their plan. The students took turns changing out of their uniforms in the station to avoid drawing any unnecessary attention, and Akiza whispered thanks to any gods listening that the underground mall had gender-neutral bathrooms.

Ryuji spoke up first when they got back together. “Okay, so, the guy behind the counter is kinda rough-lookin’, and I hear he’s not super friendly to casuals. How much do we know about airsoft guns?” Morgana, half out of Akiza’s bag and leaning his front paws on her shoulder, groaned at his question.

“ _Seriously?_ We came here specifically to buy guns and you don’t even know the first thing about them!? What kind of operation do you think we’re _running here?_ ”

“Hey, easy, it’s fine.” Akiza quickly defused the situation, seeing Ryuji rise to Morgana’s comment, scratching behind Morgan’s ears and earning a purr as she spoke. “I did a little bit of research this morning, so just let me talk to him. Plus, I’m good at lying in case I have to.”

Ann’s arms were crossed. “Are you sure? We can’t exactly go somewhere else if we screw up here. There’s probably not a lot other airsoft shops in Japan that’d sell to students.”

“Remember how I covered for you yesterday morning?” Akiza’s grin was a self-satisfied curve across her face. “Trust me, I can lie.” Ann nodded, breathing deeply.

“Okay. I trust you.” She gave that little smile again, and all the smug melted off Akiza’s grin.

“Wait, what am I doing?” Morgana asked.

“Oh, right. You…” Akiza frowned. “Should probably stay in the bag. Once we’re established customers, I don’t think he’ll care about us bringing a cat around, but for now, just stay in the bag.” Morgana frowned. “Please?”

She didn’t know a cat could look so put-upon. “Alright. But I want to be a part of things like this, alright?”

“Of course.” Akiza scratched the definitely-not-a-cat behind the ears some more, which continued to work surprisingly well, and then only mostly zipped up the bag.

A moment later, she pushed open the door of ‘Untouchable’.

The store’s interior was lit exactly well enough by a few fluorescent lights. Shelves were packed close together, leaving little wiggle room but giving plenty to look at, and the lack of natural light made the space feel even tighter. It wasn’t just guns that were on display, but jackets and helmets and survival kits too. Akiza wondered if making sure none of it could be looked at under good lighting helped make any sales.

Behind the counter was a surly looking man with gray hair and matching eyes that were mostly covered by the brim of his hat. Stubble crawled across his jaw, and along the side of his neck was a simple tattoo of a lizard. It almost felt right, seeing what was probably the owner of a place like this, with his boots propped up on the counter. The man kept looking at his magazine, and was either real good at pretending not to have noticed them, or genuinely hadn’t cared.

Akiza made space for the others, then spent a moment gathering herself before approaching the counter. She knocked on the glass counter/case-top once, smiled politely as the man’s eyes flicked up to her, and started her search for all the little tells.

“Hi there,” she began, tone straight-forward and just a little cheery. “We heard this store was the place to go for realistic stuff. Got any recommendations?”

The man’s brow tightened, and there was a little twitch at the corner of his lip. Somewhere between annoyed and curious, maybe?

“... Realistic, huh? You a collector? Don’t get many women comin’ into my shop.”

Akiza heard Ann shuffle behind her, and hoped the blonde wasn’t already getting anxious.

_Oh god, please just let me handle th--_

“We’re enthusiasts!” Ann blurted out. “Our normal place hasn’t been getting good stuff in lately, s-so, we’re looking to branch out!”

_Fuck._

“What she _means_ is,” Akiza cut in, before he could respond to Ann’s stilted acting voice. “We were told you were the best in terms of authenticity. We wanna see if we were told right.”

The owner’s gaze shifted back to her, holding for a moment before breaking into a grin. Maybe he was just eager to cut a deal, but the smile suddenly felt shockingly genuine.

“Well why didn’t you say so? I’m always glad to help out some fresh faces.” He set his magazine aside, standing up in front of them, and it was then that Akiza was struck by how _tall_ the guy was. Easily four or five inches on her, she guessed. “We gotta lay down some ground rules before that, though. First, don’t go pointin’ em at people. Keep ‘em in a bag if you’re outside. And,” he added, shifting his gaze between the three of them. “Don’t let the fuzz catch wind of you havin’ em. Don’t need ‘em comin’ around here.”

“Don’t worry about that!” Ryuji slung his arm over Akiza’s shoulder, and despite her immense frustration at them ignoring her instructions, the friendly gesture overrode that, and pulled a begrudging smile onto her face. “We hate the cops!”

**_Please._ **

“...Right.” The owner stared at Ryuji, and she could _feel_ the blond’s awkwardness pouring off him without even looking. He turned his gaze back to Akiza. “I’ll go get the beginner selection. You three sit tight.” As the shopkeep left into the store’s backroom, Ryuji pulled away from Akiza, nudging her with his elbow and speaking in a hushed tone.

“Nice going! You totally convinced him!”

“Yeah, you are _really_ good at this,” added Ann. “Sorry for, uh, jumping in back there. This guy’s pretty intimidating, so I just kinda freaked…”

“Don’t worry about it,” Akiza said with an easy smile. “We got there, didn’t we?”

Almost immediately after saying that, Akiza wondered if the owner might have heard all that through a hidden camera, but it seemed to not matter at all when he actually came back with a binder full of laminated papers and a small case.

The three of them huddled around it, and he pulled the case open to reveal a replica handgun made of a dark, reflective material. He offered it handle-first to Akiza, who took it carefully in one hand. The fake firearm was heavier than it looked, and if it weren’t right in front of her, she could have easily mistaken it for a real gun.

“Is this weighted?” She asked, feeling the way it sat in her hand. Her fingers curled around the grip, index finger resting naturally away from the trigger. The man nodded.

“That’s right. Makes it feel more real. Cheap fakes are just plastic, but my stuff’s higher quality than that.”

“I can tell,” she said appreciatively, setting the gun back into its case.

“So, uh, what else you got? Besides pistols?” Ryuji looked up to the man, who opened up the binder; full of page after page of images of replicas. Her knowledge didn’t stretch very far, but to her they looked as real as any of the props she’d seen on movies and TV. Ryuji and Ann started talking to each other about their options while Akiza’s eyes drifted past the owner’s shoulder.

“... You sell slingshots?” One eyebrow quirked as she eyed the tools hanging up on the wall. He gave a single, short laugh.

“Yeah, I sell a few models. Medieval reenactors love that kinda stuff. Why, you interested?”

Akiza grinned, thinking of a certain not-cat in her bag.

* * *

Akiza, Ann, and Ryuji sat atop the discarded desks on the school rooftop, shouldering their bags stuffed with replica firearms. Akiza’s pistol sat in her bag next to Morgana’s slingshot, while Ryuji and Ann had sprung for a shotgun and a submachine gun. Akiza, Ryuji, and Morgana had also picked up a new rapier, baseball bat, and saber respectively; carried in the kind of tubes couriers used, courtesy of Untouchable’s owner.

Morgana stood at their feet, eyeing them up.

“You three ready to do this? Remember, it’s your lives on the line in there. Don’t do anything reckless, follow my lead, and you’ll be okay.”

“We _gotcha_ , don’t worry about us!” Ryuji waved it off, practically vibrating with excitement. Akiza would be lying if she denied being excited as well, and was practically itching to feel that power coursing through her again.

**Careful, ma chérie.**

_Don’t worry. I know what this power’s for._

“I’m ready,” Ann voiced, full of determination. The fingers gripping the strap of her bag were white-knuckled. “We have to do this.”

Akiza met each of their gazes, phone in hand, and nodded once. She tapped the sole option: _'Castle of Lust'_ , and the world warped around them. Ripples pulsed across her vision, and before long they were standing at the castle’s drawbridge again.

_Guess we always start here, then…_

Akiza sucked in a breath, grinning as the power returned, and smiled a little wider at her ‘rebel attire’. The new rapier sat comfortably in a sheath on her hip, while a holster had automatically appeared to house her handgun on the other hip.

“Man, I forgot how good this feels!” Ryuji stretched, and Akiza’s eyes couldn’t help but be drawn to the form-fitting nature of his leathers for a moment. She shook her head, refocusing as Ann looked over her SMG.

“This thing feels even _realer_ now…” The blonde marveled as she hefted it in her hands, testing the aim.

“That’s because as far as the Metaverse is concerned, it is.” Morgana piped up from below, not even bothering to test his new equipment. “Be mindful of your ammo. We only come in with a set amount, and we won’t be able to restock in here.”

“So don’t fire unless you know you’re gonna land the shot,” Akiza reinforced, stretching out and getting ready. “Sounds like a plan. Are we getting in the same way we got out?”

“That’s right. Keep your wits about you. We don’t know what’s hidden in the depths of this place yet. Mm, and one more thing.” Morgana drew himself up, and regarded Ryuji in particular. “The other day, that Kamoshida guy gave you an unusual look, right?”

“Uh, yeah,” he answered. “Why, s’that bad?”

“It could be. Remember, a Palace is a manifestation of the Ruler’s subconscious. If we keep causing trouble without avoiding notice, and _especially_ if we end up in a direct confrontation the way you three did, he could start to recognize you as threats in the real world too.”

Ann frowned. “So we just have to get really good at all the stealth stuff before that happens?”

Morgana’s serious expression turned almost instantly into an excited grin. “So long as you follow my lead, you’ll be experts in no time. But even _with_ all my tricks under your belts, there’s still something every thief should have…”

They all leaned in.

“Code names!”

“Code names?” Ryuji repeated, suddenly sharing in that excitement. “Oh, oh, I wanna be something badass! Like, Pirate, or Head-Smasher!”

Ann sighed. “Can it really be a code name if it’s just what you are? We’re supposed to be, like, undercover, right?”

Akiza pointed a finger. “And Head-Smasher’s way too long anyways. Er, not to bring down the enthusiasm.”

“The girls are right,” Morgana piled in. “Think of your code name as a symbol, in the same way your Persona is.”

“How about Skull?” Ann smiled an entirely warm smile. “After that thick head of yours? It goes twice as far now, too.” She pointed to the mask.

“Skull, huh?” He tested the name, nodding afterwards. “Skull. Yeah, that kicks enough ass.”

“What about you?” Akiza turned to Morgana.

“Well… what do you think it should be? Mine isn’t as important.”

“Well, it can’t be ‘cat’,” she teased. He put both paws on his hips.

“Ugh, come on, take this seriously.”

“I am being serious.”

Ryuji racked the bat along his shoulders with one hand. “How about, uh, Scarf? Or Bandana? You know, like your mask.” Morgana huffed.

“Three syllables is still too long.”

Ryuji frowned. “Then _you_ come up with a one syllable word,” he said, pronouncing it ‘syl-able’.

“Forget it, we’ll come back to it,” Akiza defused. “We should definitely come up with one for Ann, since she doesn’t even have a mask or anything yet.”

“Oh!” She put both hands out. “I’ve been thinking about that. How about Clover?” She turned around, and pointed a painted thumb at the symbol on her hoodie. “At least, until I get a cool outfit like yours.”

“I like it!” Morgana chirped.

 _Wait, but that’s two syllables too._ “Then for me… I think you can call me Joker,” her smile was wide, lips thin. “I _am_ a Wild Card, after all.”

The others seemed to like it, but Morgana’s expression became sort of… mixed. Whatever it was disappeared quickly, though. It took a lot longer than anyone really liked to get a code name Morgana could agree with, and eventually they settled on Mona, not that she could remember exactly _how_ they got there, just that the name wasn’t too long, and only barely related to him.

In the end, Morgana-- _Mona_ , delivered a briefing again to get them back into the right mood. And when he took the lead, they followed with wordless glances, Clover putting up her hood in the place of a mask, and the four of them set off to begin their next infiltration.

* * *

Just like before, besides the exits and entrances, the dungeons almost weren’t guarded at all. Past a certain point, there weren’t even any Shadows guarding the doors.

“Kamoshida has no reason to believe that the prisoners already here can escape,” Mona had explained. “So why would he need to guard the place?”

Joker found herself oddly at home with the idea of holding Shadows at gunpoint. Mona had walked them through a holdup at one point, preying on a Shadow far from any possible allies. She had unmasked the thing and quickly subdued the Jack-o’-Lantern that emerged from it, pressing the muzzle of her handgun to its pumpkin head, and to her credit it only took a few seconds to banish the almost cartoonish idea of splattered pumpkin before getting serious again.

The Shadow had given up the directions to the deep dungeons easily, before being assimilated into Joker’s mask just like Pixie had.

“Yeesh, you were _scary_ good at that,” Skull said as they pressed onwards. “You were like, stone-cold! ‘Tell us how to get further down or I’ll kill you right now’ is like, action movie shit!”

Joker flushed red, rubbing the back of her neck with her free hand. “I-It was just an act. I honestly don’t know where all that came from, it just… sorta happened.”

“Well, you’re certainly good at running holdups,” chirped Mona from ahead of them. “You looked like an old pro.”

“Hey, don’t call a girl old!” Clover’s voice was indignant, but her teasing grin belied the joke. Joker smiled, both at the joke _and_ at the other girl’s intention. Mona merely harrumphed and peeked around the corner before beckoning them to follow as he scampered down the hallway.

The doorway ahead of them seemed to almost wobble as Joker looked at it, becoming slightly see-through every so often. Looking straight at it filled the edges of her vision with a kind of static, and she found herself shaking her head to clear it away.

“What _is_ this thing?” She wondered aloud as Mona pushed the door open.

“It’s a safe room! Come inside, check it out!”

* * *

True to its name, the safe room carried an almost potently relaxing atmosphere. Despite how hard she’d had to think about replacing real names with code names, it felt safe to say otherwise here. The moment they’d settled in, it was as if a weight had been lifted off their shoulders.

Morgana’s explanation for why that was, and why the room occasionally waved over to looking like a classroom again, was brief and to the point. In short, it was a place where Shadows wouldn’t think to look, and they were free to rest.

Ann exhaled a prayer of thanks, setting her SMG down and fanning her hair out again before taking a seat. “Thank god, I SO need a break right now.” The other two teens mumbled an agreement while taking up seats across the table. Akiza pushed her mask up to her forehead as she glanced at Morgana.

“So, how’re we doing?”

“Not too bad,” Morgana hummed. “We’re nearly to the dungeons again, so we can head out after a few minutes of rest.”

“Ugh, I’m freakin’ starving!” Ryuji pivoted to straddle the bench, stretching his right leg out across the surface and massaging his calf. He flashed Akiza that proud grin again before digging into his pockets. “Good thing I brought snacks!” The blond flung his hands onto the table between them, placing down four slightly-squished granola bars, a packet of roasted nuts, and a crumpled pocky box. Ann quirked an eyebrow at him.

“Okay, first question. You brought food? Second question, why _this_ food?” Ryuji pushed his mask up his forehead, folding his arms and _harrumph_ -ing.

“I-I brought stuff that’s good for keeping your energy up! Like, the stuff I used for track practice! That’s good, right?” He turned his eyes to Akiza, seemingly searching for some kind of agreement that she simply didn’t know how to provide. Thankfully, Morgana piped up.

“He’s right, actually.” The creature reached for one of the granola bars, trying in vain to fumble open its seal with his paws. “This is another way that cognition affects the Metaverse. Because you think this stuff helps give you energy, it does.” He devolved into growling noises then, having managed to pin the bar between his paws and attempting to rip the top off with his teeth. Akiza couldn’t help grinning. It would have been easy enough for anyone to help him, but Morgana hadn’t asked. There was probably some pride on the line.

 _Just like a cat…_ Akiza thought, grabbing one of the remaining bars and taking a bite for herself.

“... huh.” With every bite, she could _feel_ the energy returning to her. The taste hadn’t changed at all, chocolate and salty, but somehow eating just one bar had felt as good as taking an hour-long nap. Going by the grin on his face, Ryuji was having the same experience.

“Ha! I was right! They _do_ help!” He tossed the wrapper onto the table and folded his arms, and it was hard not to laugh a little at how triumphant he looked. Luckily, no one seemed to take offense. Ann was curiously picking at the pack of peanuts, and Morgana had finally succeeded in ripping the granola bar open, at the cost of mangling the poor thing even further.

“I’m not getting much here,” Ann remarked. “Is it just the granola bars?”

“It’s probably because you don’t have a Persona,” Morgana wiped a smudge of chocolate off the corner of his mouth while explaining. “Personas use a certain type of energy that non-Persona users can’t normally access. It’d be impossible for me to tell you what _all_ the stuff you could bring in here would do, but Ryuji’s line of thinking will go a long way in keeping us prepared for anything the Metaverse can throw at us. Medicine follows a similar example too. Painkillers can even close up wounds in here, so we should stock up on some before our next mission. Healing magic isn’t a fix-all.”

“Add it to the list,” Akiza noted, flicking over to the growing document on her phone. “Stockpile medication for extradimensional stealth missions. Man, city life is weird.”

That earned her a chuckle from the blondes at the table.

“So, you’re from the country then?” Ann leaned her elbow on the table, catching her chin and tilting her head to one side. “What brought you to Tokyo?”

Akiza hesitated for a brief instant before she spoke.

“Yeah. I’m from a little town way out in the sticks. Like, ‘one gas station in the whole town’ little.” She wondered if her breathing was noticeable. “As for the transfer… I needed a change of scenery. Some stuff went down that it was best I got away from.”

“Is it about the rumors of you havin’ a criminal record?” Ryuji’s question was innocent. Six eyes fixed on her.

Deflect, or tell them the truth? One was definitely easier…

**Do you trust them, ma chérie?**

“...Yeah. It’s all bullshit, though.” Her gaze fixed on a knot in the wood of the table as she recounted the story. The cries for help, the intervention, the assault charge, and the false testimony. The words came easier than she ever thought they could. Ryuji and Ann looked scandalized, and the former spoke first.

“And your parents just threw you under the bus and sent you off on your own? What the hell!” He slammed his fist on the table, eliciting a yelp from Morgana and causing him to jump. “That’s such bullshit!”

“Ryuji’s right, I can’t believe they just believed the cops! Parents are supposed to stick up for their kids! Ugh…” Ann sighed, taking in a deep breath to steady herself. “Well, join the Shujin rumor mill, I guess. Sorry to have to welcome you.” The three of them shared another laugh, and Akiza felt the smile on her face reaching up to her eyes.

“Hey, misery loves company. I’d rather be here than in jail.” She managed.

Ryuji snorted, clapping her on the shoulder. “Well, we’re glad to have ya. You ain’t alone at that school as long as I’m around.”

“That goes for me, too,” Ann chirped. “We got your back, so don’t let the rumors get to you.”

Akiza’s smile widened further, and she let out another laugh.

“Thanks, guys.”

* * *

The remainder of the expedition had been relatively uneventful. Morgana’s assumption that the deep dungeons wouldn’t be heavily guarded either was correct, and they faced minimal resistance working their way deeper in. Ryuji and Ann worked together to list off names of the captives, and Akiza dutifully took them down for later. Save one brief mishap with Ann sending out a panicked spray of her SMG, the infiltration went off without a hitch, and by the time they emerged, it was nearly five o’clock.

“Damn, we were in there longer than I thought we’d be.” Ryuji arched his back, feeling a few satisfying pops as they debriefed on the rooftop. “So, what’s the plan now?”

“You know these students better than I do,” Akiza put forward. “I’ll send the list to the group chat so you can plan out who you want to talk to tomorrow. The volleyball rally’s taking up most of the afternoon, so we’ll have some time to look around for potential victims.”

“Some of these guys used to be on the track team, right? Ryuji, do you wanna try them?” Ann looked up from her phone at him, but the blond shook his head.

“Prolly not,” he said resignedly. “Most of ‘em still think of me as the guy who ruined the track team. They probably wouldn’t talk to me if I tried.”

“From what I understand, the track team breakup happened a while ago.” Morgana was perched atop the HVAC unit next to the desks, flopped over and lounging in the sun. “The abuse of the volleyball team is ongoing though, right? We should focus on them.”

“I think Morgana’s right,” Akiza said, then turned to Ann. “Do you know any of Suzui-san’s teammates? Maybe they know what’s going on.”

Ann frowned. “Not really. Plus, we didn’t see any of the girls’ volleyball team in those dungeons. It was all guys.”

Ryuji grimaced. “...D’you think it has something to do with that ‘playroom’ shit Kamoshida was talkin’ about the first time we met him?” Akiza grimaced at the memory too, and she saw Ann do the same.

“Is he assaulting the girls’ volleyball team?” Ann’s voice was barely above a whisper. The background noise of students still hanging out beneath them felt downright oppressive in that moment. Akiza’s mouth set to a hard line.

“If he is, that’s all the more reason to put a stop to his bullshit as soon as we can.” She turned to Ann, meeting her troubled gaze with her own steel. “Do you think Suzui-san would know?”

“M-maybe,” Ann answered after a moment, unsure of the words leaving her mouth. Or maybe, just afraid of the implications if they were true. “I can try to ask her tomorrow.”

“That’s the plan, then.” Morgana hopped down onto the desk between the three of them, stretching out his legs. “Ann and Akiza investigate the girls team through Suzui, while Ryuji checks out the boys team. We reconvene after school to compare our findings and make our next move accordingly.”

Akiza’s eyes moved between her companions. Ann and Ryuji’s faces were painted with troubled expressions. Ann was fiddling with the end of her pigtail in one hand and chewing on her lip, while Ryuji stared at the desk with enough force to burn a hole through it, leg bouncing restlessly.

“Hey,” Akiza said, getting their attention again. “I know it’s tough to think about the stuff Kamoshida’s getting away with, but that’s why we have to put a stop to it. We’ll get through this, together, and make everyone’s lives at this school better. Right?” She placed one hand in the center of the desk between them, raising her eyebrows with the question. The blondes stared at her for a moment before Ryuji put his hand in.

“Yeah. For everyone this bastard ever stepped on.” Ann put her hand in soon after.

“Count me in for sure. We’re gonna get that proof and nail him to the wall.”

“We’re in agreement, then.” Morgana placed a paw atop the others’ hands, and the four of them shared confident grins, impossible to hide their excited determination.

“Let’s give him hell.” Akiza pushed her hand down, and the others followed suit, pulling theirs up and away with smiles on their faces.

 _Like a real team,_ Akiza thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really enjoyed Ann being a part of the Untouchable scene. These blondes are going to be the death of Akiza lmao 
> 
> I'm also really happy with how the saferoom and after-Palace conversations turned out. They both help set up some of the heavier stuff that shows up next chapter.
> 
> \- **Rabbit**
> 
> I came up with 'Clover' and for the record, I really like it as an alt code name for Ann, but we're probably gonna end up switching over to Panther down the line. The image of her using the hood in place of a mask while still armed with the gun's a really good one in my head. Velvet Room visits are always a joy to write too, haha.
> 
> We had a lot of fun writing out the dialogue for this chapter, so I hope that came through. The team dynamic is always a winner to work with.
> 
> \- **Audible**
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	5. Breathe

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content Warning: Mild dysphoria, panic attack  
> Today's Chapter Title: [Breathe](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrojrDCI02k)

_4/13_

Akiza’s bag felt heavier than usual on the way to school on Wednesday. And not just because of the cat taking up residence there; the bag also held the metaphorical weight of her school-provided gym clothes.

The clothes that she would need to change into for the rally.

In the locker room.

The chime of the school bell signifying the end of morning classes jolted her out of the anxiety-fueled TV static clouding her brain.

 _Oh god. Oh god. I have no plan_ , her brain helpfully provided. Ann was here, yes, but what was Akiza supposed to _say?_ ‘Hey, I have a crippling fear of changing in front of strangers, let alone even entering a gendered locker room, for completely cisgender reasons, would you mind going with me’?

So when Ann suggested that they go change together, Akiza could only nod dumbly, following along in her wake with zero thoughts in her head about what she’d do when they arrived.

She snapped out of that haze when a dark-haired girl she didn’t recognize crossed into view, hair pulled into a high ponytail that set her apart from the rest of the students. Ann perked up as she came into view with a warm, bright smile painting across her face. Moreso than Akiza had seen thus far, Ann looked close to truly, unabashedly _happy_.

“Hey, Shiho! Over here!” The blonde stuck her hand up in a wave, getting the other girl’s attention. To Akiza’s eyes, Suzui looked _tired_ , dark circles under her eyes and seemingly sluggish movements. She seemed to perk up as well, however, upon meeting Ann’s gaze. Her little smile showed through the fatigue, and she trotted through the crowd to meet them.

“Hi, Ann.” Her voice was soft in a way Akiza couldn’t quite place. “Are you going to change for the rally?”

“Yup! We just left class,” she said, and again, Akiza couldn’t remember having heard Ann’s voice so _jubilant_ before. “Oh, I don’t think you two have met. Shiho, this is Akiza! She’s in my class, we met on Monday.” Akiza felt her feet go a little pigeon-toed, a nervous habit that she was finding incredibly difficult to kick. She gave a little smile and a wave, and gritted her teeth in anxious fear while she watched a strange look momentarily flicker across Shiho’s brow. It was only for the briefest of seconds, though, and it vanished just as quickly.

“Oh, you must be the new transfer student, huh? I didn’t know you were in Ann’s class.” Her smile was polite, and Akiza felt the brief panic ebb away.

 _It’s fine_ , she thought. _She didn’t clock you. She just knows about the rumors running around the school. That’s normal. It’s okay._

**Breathe, ma chérie.**

“Um, y-yes, that’s me.” Akiza stuttered just slightly as she found her mental balance again, straightening her feet out and relaxing her posture. Julie’s presence was a warm comfort, helping to center her. “I met Ann on my first day, actually. I was running late and she offered to share her umbrella.”

“That sure sounds like her,” Shiho giggled. Ann’s cheeks flushed pink, and she pouted at Shiho’s teasing, prompting another round of light laughter. “Well, if it helps, I don’t think there’s any merit to those rumors. If you’re on a first-name basis with Ann after two days, then you can’t be as bad as the rumors say.”

It only occurred to Akiza then that she _had_ been on a first-name basis with Ann (and Ryuji, for that matter) from very nearly their first conversation.

_Crazy what saving each other from certain death will do, I guess._

“I appreciate that,” Akiza said, and meant it, letting a friendly smile grow. “It’s been nice, having a friend in a new school. And from the way she talks about you, I hope we can be friends as well.”

“Okay, great! Let’s go change, hahaha!” Ann half-shrieked at that, pink blush turning a deeper red as she grabbed Akiza by the wrist, dragging her along down the hallway. Shiho followed in their wake, laughing conspiratorially with Akiza.

And then, before Akiza had time to get nervous again, the three of them stepped into the locker room.

Of course, it was a normal locker room. There was no rational reason for Akiza to suspect otherwise. It looked identical to the ones she was familiar with from her old school.

Just. With girls instead.

 _Other girls_ , she corrected. _Other girls._

Ann and Shiho were anchors in that respect, at least. She didn’t feel nervous simply being in here. No, the nerves were stemming from the fact that she’d be expected to _take her clothes off_ in here, in view of other people. Compression shorts only did so much.

“Hey, is there a restroom in here?” Akiza tapped Ann on the shoulder, desperately trying to construct a plan on the fly. “I’m, uh. Kinda self-conscious.” Not a lie. Not even a mistruth. Just… withholding details.

“Oh, yeah, it’s right down there, behind that door. We’ll wait for you outside, okay?” Her smile was reassuring, and Akiza nodded gratefully. Ann returned to her conversation with Shiho as Akiza turned and headed to the restroom. As she locked the door behind the mercifully single-occupant restroom, Morgana popped his head out of her bag.

“Phew! It’s so _stuffy_ in this bag. What are we doing here?”

_...Right. Sentient cat. In the bathroom while I change._

“Uh, I have to change into my gym clothes for the volleyball rally.” She kept her voice low, at risk of being overheard by someone outside. She rifled around in the bag as Morgana hopped out, shaking off the cat hair from the shirt. “Could you, um.” She blinked. “Go back in the bag?”

“Why?” Morgana’s cocked head and innocent tone left her stunned.

“Because… I have to change? And I don’t want you to look at me in my underwear??” Morgana’s face scrunched up in response as he sat on the tile floor, staring at her confusedly. Eventually, he let out a huff and trotted back to the bag, settling himself inside.

“You humans are so weird about your bodies. At least leave it a bit unzipped so I can breathe.”

Akiza rolled her eyes, obligingly leaving a small space open facing the wall.

* * *

The rally was chaotic, noisy, and distracting. Akiza puzzled through her thoughts as she sat between Ryuji and Ann, the blonde girl standing up to cheer on Shiho. Ryuji seemed capable of being intimidating if the situation demanded it, so he’d probably be fine investigating on his own. They ended up sending Morgana with him, just to make sure he had some kind of backup in case of an emergency.

Akiza was relieved to be the one going with Ann, since Shiho was already friendly with her, among other reasons. When it came down to it, Akiza really didn’t want Ann to have to be the one to lie to Shiho. That was a burden she’d have no problem bearing.

After the rally, Akiza and Ann waited outside the gym for Shiho to finish her meeting with the rest of her team. The plan was to head somewhere private to talk, and broach the subject as gingerly as possible. Ann had informed Akiza that she’d previously raised some concern regarding Shiho’s numerous injuries, which were waved off as ‘normal, we have nationals coming up, practice is intense,’ in a tone that was woefully far from convincing.

So there they sat, tucked away in a little-used storage room. Akiza fiddled with the cap on her drink, twisting and untwisting it as Ann and Shiho chatted. Ann had smartly steered the conversation to volleyball already, so there wasn’t far to go to their intended destination.

“You did great out there, by the way,” Ann said, bumping her shoulder against the shorter girl’s. Shiho’s grin got a little wider, and she ducked her head, hiding a little laugh behind her dark hair.

“She’s right.” Akiza chimed in with a smile. “You’d put the volleyball team at my old school to shame.” Shiho’s eyes flicked up to hers, and the little embers of warmth in there made Akiza’s heart ache at the thought of what she suspected this girl was going through. “Though it did hurt to see that guy get spiked in the face that hard. I hope he’s okay…” She deliberately trailed off, letting Ann swoop in.

“I saw Mishima-kun leaving the nurse’s office earlier. I think he was allowed to go home early, so he’s probably fine.”

“That’s a relief,” Akiza replied, taking a swig of her fruit juice before she continued. “I always see him covered in cuts and bruises in class. I guess practice for the boys’ team is pretty harsh.”

Out of the corner of her eye, Akiza saw Shiho deflate, appearing to retract into herself as her smile faded and more of her dark hair fell around her face as her head lowered.

 _There it is_ , Akiza thought ruefully.

“Is something wrong, Shiho?” Ann picked up on this immediately. Akiza let her take the lead, trusting Ann as Shiho’s best friend. The shorter girl looked up at the blonde, eyes full of unhidden trepidation.

“N-no. Why?” Her answer was too quick, too stiff. Ann was a bad actress, but Shiho was a terrible liar of a completely different type. “I-I told you the other day, injuries are n-normal for practice. We compete in a national league. It’s normal.” Again, her answer felt fabricated, like it had been provided to her ahead of time. Plus…

“I didn’t say anything about your injuries, Shiho.”

Shiho froze.

Ann spoke in a voice barely above a whisper, and the sounds of students elsewhere in the building sounded _deafening_ in the silence. Akiza felt a tragic kind of pride when Ann picked up on Shiho’s bad cover.

“I-I…” She sounded tiny, unsure what to do now that the provided lie had run out. Ann followed through.

“Shiho, please…” Ann’s voice was close to breaking, but she swallowed, steeled herself, and carried on. “You’re my best friend. You know you can be honest with me, right?”

“...You don’t understand.” Shiho turned again, staring down at her shoes, hands clenched into fists at her sides. “You have your modelling job and new friends and--” She hiccuped. “And all I have is volleyball. It’s all I’m good at. I n-need this.” She sniffled, face hidden behind her hair, and the sound of the first teardrop hitting her shoe felt loud enough to shatter glass.

“Shishi…” Ann reached a hand out slowly, delicately, but jerked it back when her fingertips brushed Shiho’s shoulder and the other girl whirled to face her, teeth gritted and eyes teary.

“Ann, please! It doesn’t _matter_ what Kamoshida’s doing! Can’t you just let me have this!?”

She turned on her heel, hurrying out of the room before Ann could muster a response. The blonde could only stare for a moment, before moving to follow.

“Shiho, wait! _Please!_ ”

“ _Just leave me alone!_ ”

And then Ann stopped in her tracks, and Akiza let out the breath she didn’t know she was holding. Ann stood still for a moment, one hand still outstretched, trembling in silence, before she fell into a low crouch, hugging her legs to her chest and burying her face in her knees. Akiza hesitated, thoughts clashing over what to do, what to say to comfort her friend, before she settled on merely crouching next to Ann, placing a hand on her shoulder as the sobs started to come.

“She’s never told me to leave her alone before.” Ann’s voice returned after a minute of quiet crying, face still pressed against her knees. “We’ve always stuck together, ever since we met. But since high school started, and she got onto the team, I just…” Ann sniffled. “I feel like we’re drifting apart, and I don’t know how to stop it. And now I’m afraid I just made it even worse.”

“I’m sorry,” Akiza managed, swallowing around the awful lump in her throat. _This isn’t how it was supposed to go. She was supposed to hate me, not her best friend._ “If I hadn’t suggested that we ask her, this wouldn’t have --”

“No.” Ann cut her off, raising her head to look Akiza in the eye. “I agreed to this. We all agreed to this. I just wish it wasn’t so…” She trailed off again, leaving Akiza unsure as the little sniffles kept coming.

Ann jolted slightly as Akiza’s arms wrapped her in a stiff hug, leading the dark-haired girl to believe she’d miscalculated. But Ann leaned into her after a moment, and Akiza’s face was filled with pale golden hair.

_O-oh. Okay. This is helping, then._

Her arms slackened slightly, just enough to make the embrace a bit more natural. Ann hadn’t returned the hug, but that was fine. Akiza’s hand gently stroked up and down the blonde’s arm while she got the last of the sniffles out. Ann looked up, meeting Akiza’s gaze with her crystal-blue eyes, still a bit teary, and gave a weak smile.

“Thanks. S-sorry you had to see that. We’ve never fought like that, so I kinda freaked. Sorry,” she repeated. Akiza shook her head as she withdrew her arms, helping Ann to her feet.

“Don’t be. It’s okay. Do you need a minute, or should we go look for Ryuji and Morgana?”

“No, I’m good.” She quickly dabbed at her eyes with a tissue from her bag, careful not to smudge her makeup. “Let’s go. We’ve got work to do.”

* * *

Ryuji and Morgana’s attempts didn’t go much better; reactions of volleyball players suggested abuse, but none of them would confirm it or testify against Kamoshida. Stalled in their efforts, the group resolved to get something to eat together after school. Akiza promised to catch up with them at the diner in Shibuya, held up by questions from Kawakami about transfer paperwork. As she made to leave the building, however, she was stopped by a voice behind her.

“Kurusu! Can I speak with you for a moment?”

Akiza felt her blood run cold at the sound and froze mid-stride.

_That’s the king’s voice…_

Sure enough, she turned to see the broad shoulders and square jaw of Suguru Kamoshida, waving her down with a friendly-looking smile. Akiza had to will her muscles to un-tense as she forced herself into a more natural pose, one hand on the strap of her bag. Morgana knew better than to poke his head out at a time like this, but she couldn’t help worrying anyway.

“Oh, hello, Mr. Kamoshida.” She kept her voice matter-of-fact and even, adopting a passable smile. _You have no reason to panic. There’s no way he knows what you’ve been doing._

Kamoshida came to a stop before her, placing his hands on his hips.

“I wanted to remind you, now that you’ve been at Shujin Academy for a few days, about your circumstances.” His seemingly-friendly smile was already beginning to fade into a more neutral frown. “Shujin has taken a great risk on allowing someone… such as yourself to transfer here. We pride ourselves on our image here. Whatever you might have gotten away with at your old school, it won’t be tolerated here. You understand that, right?” His eyes narrowed ever so slightly, and Akiza bit the inside of her lip for just a moment before she spoke.

“Yes, sir. I’m aware that I’ve been afforded a generous offer by Shujin, and I don’t intend to waste it.” _Platitudes, appeasing reassurances, smile and nod._

“If that’s the case,” he continued, “then why have I heard that you’re hanging around Sakamoto?”

The grip on her bag strap tightened. “Sir?”

“My volleyball players were just telling me that Sakamoto was scaring them earlier. Trying to ask them strange questions about practice. And then I hear from Ms. Kawakami that you two have been seen together every day this week.”

“Sakamoto-kun helped me when I was lost in Aoyama on Monday,” Akiza explained. “He’s been showing me around the area since. I didn’t know he was talking to the volleyball team, though.” _Furrow the brow, sound a little bit confused, sell it..._

Kamoshida folded his arms across his chest. “Just remember that you don’t get any second chances at this school. One slip-up, and you’ll be out on the streets.” He turned away, but not before looking over his shoulder at her. “Shujin Academy is a place where those with aspirations come to learn. If you can’t get with the program, you’ll be gone.”

And then he was gone, and Akiza’s head started spinning. She leaned against the nearby wall, catching her breath. Somehow, she hadn’t expected a direct confrontation with the real Kamoshida to be so terrifying.

_Someone… such as yourself._

She swallowed, trying to re-center herself. He was talking about her record, right? He had to be. Unless he _knew_. But how could he? The deal was that it would stay between her, Sojiro, and the principal. But then again, Kamoshida was clearly in the principal’s good graces, and it wouldn’t surprise her to find out that the two had spoken about her already. She’d already overheard them doing it earlier in the week.

Akiza pressed the heel of her hand to her temple; her head was starting to hurt, and everything felt so _loud_. Since when did other people whisper so noisily?

_“Mr. Kamoshida was just talking to her…”_

_“Think she’s in trouble already? She’s always hanging around with Takamaki and Sakamoto…”_

_“...heard Sakamoto was bullying volleyball players. And did you hear about Suzui? She ran out crying after walking off with Takamaki and the transfer…”_

Akiza’s eyes darted around the entryway of the school. Everything looked so _sharp_ , like it was all in focus at the same time, like she couldn’t filter anything out. There was so much _grey_. Her eyes screwed shut, and she felt like she might be about to throw up.

_Too much, too much…!_

“Excuse me. Are you the new student in class 2-D?”

Akiza’s eyes snapped open again, and her gaze zeroed in on the student standing in front of her. Somehow, she couldn’t quite settle on any features of the other girl’s appearance; the adrenaline or _whatever it was_ running through her was chasing her mental faculties out of her brain like a broom shoo-ing rats from a cupboard. All Akiza knew for sure was that her voice sounded… soft? She nodded dumbly in response.

“Would you like to come up to the rooftop with me? It’s quieter up there, and you look like you could use the fresh air…”

Yes, _god_ , anything to get away from the stuffy air and the crowd and the _noise_. She nodded again and followed in the other girl’s wake, plodding deliberately up the flights of stairs and onto the roof. True to the other girl’s word, the space was blessedly empty. Akiza leaned against the door as it closed behind them, squeezing her eyes shut and forcing herself to take deep, even breaths. The fresh air did indeed help, and over the course of a minute or two she felt herself coming down from… whatever the _fuck_ that was.

“How are you feeling? You look much better. Here, drink this.” A water bottle was gently pressed into her hands, and she stared at it for a moment before looking up at her savior.

Oh. Oh _no_.

The other girl was a good few inches shorter than her. Her hair fell around her face in light-brown curls, even fluffier than Akiza’s own, matched by her soft amber eyes. The girl’s brow was raised just slightly, along with the soft upturn of her lips in apparent relief at Akiza’s recovery. And just like Akiza, she was still wearing her gym uniform as well.

“B-better,” she mumbled, before catching herself. “Yes, I’m feeling better. Thanks.” She greedily downed half the bottle of water, trying to quench the heat building in her face, to no avail. The other girl only frowned.

“Oh, but you’re still so red! Are you feverish…?” Akiza saw the hand approaching her, probably to touch her forehead, but something made the brown-haired girl reconsider. Whatever the reason had been, it was a blessing.

“I’m fine!” she squeaked, physically trying to wave away any concern. “Just, out of breath! I’ll be okay.” The spinning wheels were finally starting to gain traction. “Thank you, again.”

“It’s no trouble, really.” The girl clasped her hands in front of her, returning to the same soft smile from before. “I was nearby when you were speaking with Mr. Kamoshida, and you looked a bit frazzled afterwards. I often come up to the rooftop to get some fresh air, so I thought it might do you some good as well.”

Akiza nodded. “It really did. I’m not really sure what happened there, something about him just… intimidated me, I guess.”

The girl’s grip on her other hand tensed, only barely, so subtly that Akiza could have dismissed it as a trick of the light. “Yes, I can understand that.”

An awkward silence filled the space between them for a moment, neither meeting the gaze of the other, before some valiant neuron in Akiza’s brain fired and she spoke up.

“Kurusu!” she yelped, startling the other girl slightly. “Is, um. My name. Akiza Kurusu. Sorry, I’m still a little…”

She was cut off by a soft laugh from the other girl, and Akiza felt her heart beat in her ears for a second at the sound. “It’s fine. My name is Haru.”

“Oh, um.” Akiza stalled for a moment. “Is that your last name, or…?”

“No,” Haru clarified. “It’s my first name, but I prefer to go by it.”

_Oh. Okay. First name basis. I can handle that!_

“Well,” Akiza said, swallowing to calm herself. “Please call me Akiza, then.” Haru smiled again, and Akiza couldn’t help but share in it.

“Pleased to meet you then, Akiza-chan!”

_Akiza-chan…!_

“By the way,” Haru added. “I apologize for bringing it up, but please try not to let the rumors get to you.” She fiddled with one of her fingers slightly as she spoke. “I, ah. I know how it can be, to have everyone talking behind your back and insinuating things. The student council allows me to use this space to garden, so please feel free to come up if you need a break from everything down there.” She smiled again, warm and bright. “I could always use a hand with my beds, if you’re interested!”

Akiza couldn’t help but smile a little wider at that; the excited chirp in her voice at the mention of the flowerbeds seemed to visibly perk Haru up. And Akiza certainly wouldn’t mind more excuses to talk to her.

“That sounds great,” she answered. “Thank you.”

“Wonderful!” Haru clapped once excitedly before reaching into her pocket and pulling out a phone. “Here, let’s exchange contact info, that way I can let you know when I need a hand, or you can tell me if you want to come up here.”

_First name basis, and a phone number! Yep!_

As Akiza made to retrieve her phone from her bag, however, a black-furred body made itself known, planting its paws on Akiza’s shoulder.

“How much longer are you gonna make me sit in this cramped bag!?” He stared at Akiza indignantly for a moment, before her shocked expression and the soft gasp to his right made him turn his gaze.

Haru was _delighted_.

“Oh my goodness, what an adorable kitty!” She began to reach for Morgana, looking to Akiza. “May I…?”

Akiza’s shock morphed into a smile, both happy to let Haru go ahead and delighted at Morgana’s expense.

“Hey, don’t just tell her she can do thaaaaaaaaaa…” Morgana’s indignance trailed off and he went slightly cross-eyed as Haru scratched him behind the ears. It only took a moment before he was purring happily, pushing his head into her hand.

“He’s so talkative!” Haru exclaimed. “Does he have a name?”

“He’s Morgana.” Akiza was simultaneously incredulous to see Morgana behaving like an honest-to-god cat and fascinated by Haru’s unabashed joy. Maybe she owed Morgana some sushi for this.

The two girls chatted briefly after that, mostly about Morgana and a little bit about plants before they exchanged numbers and parted ways. Akiza left the building with a little pep in her step, smiling to herself. She could have sworn she heard Julie quietly laughing, but couldn’t be sure.

* * *

The diner was plenty busy, and with everything that had happened, there were plenty of things to be on either of the blondes’ minds, but right now, one thing was pushed to the front.

“Hey, uh, Ann?”

“Yeah, Ryuji?”

“Does she seem… spacey, to you?”

Ann was already on the same page. Akiza had entered the diner with a happy grin and eyes that hardly moved as much as they usually did, even if the other girl made a thing of hiding them sometimes behind her dark hair. Akiza had excused herself to the bathroom only a little while ago, so it was an open topic.

Morgana poked his head out of her bag, which was saving the seat. “She had a run-in with Kamoshida before she left school. She was having some kind of… sick flash, or something, and this girl took her up to the roof to get some fresh air and calm down. She’s been like that ever since.”

“Shit, Kamoshida talked to her?” Ryuji’s concern ratcheted up in an instant. “What about? Did he threaten her? I swear, I’m gonna--”

“No, no,” Morgana interrupted. “He was telling her to keep out of trouble, that kind of thing. He thought it was suspicious that she was hanging around you so much.”

“Ugh, that figures.” Ann grumbled into her soda.

Ryuji slumped back in his seat, taking an interest. “So, wait, some girl helped her out? Who was she?”

“Not sure. I think she gave Akiza her name, but I didn’t hear it inside the bag.” He let out a weary sigh, ears drooping a bit. “I hope Akiza’s okay. She seemed pretty rattled after Kamoshida.”

Ann’s eyes flicked up, past the booths, to where Akiza had turned the corner to the restrooms.

“Whatever happened on the roof,” Ann mused, “she does look cute when she’s happy.” Ryuji clammed up, flushing pink and hunching over as he mumbled.

“Y-yeah, I guess…”

Ann giggled to herself for a moment, delighting in the look on Ryuji’s face. _I wonder if he has a crush on her?_ She pondered, taking a thoughtful sip from her glass. _I mean, she does have that whole “effortlessly cool” vibe going on most of the time. And those silver eyes are pretty attractive under those glasses…_

“Hey, I uh…” Ryuji’s voice drew Ann back out of her daydreaming, the girl willing the light dusting of pink on her cheeks to go back where it came from. “I’m sorry about what happened with Shiho.” He fiddled with the wrapper his straw had come in. “I know there ain’t really a better way to do this, and we all signed up for it, but…”

“It still sucks, yeah.” Ann finished the sentence for him, blowing a stray lock of hair out of her face and leaning against the table. “I wanna help her so bad, but she’s so far under his thumb. And when I think about what she might be going through, I…”

“Yeah, I get it.” She looked up, surprised at the sincerity in Ryuji’s voice. “I know the three of us ain’t really talked in a while, but… She was my friend too. And, uh, for what it’s worth…” He bit his lip for a moment, looking up to meet her gaze, dark-brown eyes like polar opposites of her own sky-blue ones. “I’m sorry we stopped talkin’ when high school started.”

Ann’s brow creased, an odd feeling making itself known in her chest. “Did… did you think that was _your_ fault? Ryuji, I--”

“It was, though!” He interrupted her with something bordering on a shout, and a pointed glare from Morgana made him settle back into his booth seat. “If I hadn’t gone and tried to hit Kamoshida, hadn’t turned myself into this delinquent shithead, we coulda still been friends.” Ryuji squeezed his eyes shut, fist clenching around the straw wrapper, crushing it. His voice was hoarse and low in his throat, in a way that Ann had never heard. “You’n Shiho deserve better than bein’ stuck with an idiot friend like me.”

Ann couldn’t find it in herself to care when tears sprang to her eyes, almost certainly going to ruin her makeup. Her lower lip wobbled precariously as she instinctively reached a hand across to cover his trembling fist, feeling it tense up and then relax at her touch.

“Ryuji,” she whispered, and it was all she could do to not leap across the table and wrap him up in her arms. “I don’t deserve a friend nearly as good as you.”

He let out a single, bitter laugh, smiling just a bit. “If you really think that, my stupid must’ve rubbed off on ya worse than I thought.”

Ann found a laugh of her own bubbling up, playfully nudging him on the shoulder. “Maybe. But I’m still right.”

Morgana merely sat quietly in Akiza’s bag, content to observe the conversation. _Humans are so strange_ , he thought, watching the blondes trade fond glances over their drinks.

* * *

Akiza waved to Sojiro as she returned to Leblanc that afternoon, setting her bag (and Morgana) on the work desk. Morgana clambered out immediately, already yowling about the events on the rooftop.

“So, would you mind explaining what exactly youACK--” He yelped loudly, leaping to dodge the bra and accompanying bundles of socks flying haphazardly across the room as Akiza flopped face-first onto the bed, muffling a groan into her pillow. Morgana trotted across the floor, up onto the bed next to Akiza’s head, irritated expression plain even on his feline face. He gently bapped the back of Akiza’s head with a paw. “Hello? Earth to Akiza?”

The dark-haired girl merely rolled over, clutching a pillow to her chest, lazy smile plain to see. She took a deep breath, eyes closing for a moment, before she turned to Morgana, reaching up to scratch him behind the ears. “Yeah, what’s up?”

“Don’t distract me!” He batted away her hand in what must have been a supreme act of willpower (after a moment of enjoying the scritches, of course). “You sounded like you were about to pass out after you talked to Kamoshida, and since you left school you’ve been in a daze with that dumb smile stuck to your face. Are you sick?”

“Mmmm, nah.” Her voice had a faraway tone to it, but after another moment of longing she shook her head to focus. “I’m not really sure what happened to me after Kamoshida. Some kind of weird panic attack?” She bit her lip, recalling the overwhelming state of having all her senses heightened like that. It wasn’t something she was eager to experience again. “Was it something to do with Kamoshida himself? Because I met his Shadow, or something?”

“Unlikely,” Morgana meowed. He paced up and down the side of her bed, deep in thought. “You didn’t really have that kind of reaction when you met him the first time, did you?” She shook her head. “Then it’s probably not that. Even if you _had_ , effects like that shouldn’t be able to transfer from the Metaverse to reality. You might have just panicked.”

“That’s…” Akiza let out a heavy sigh, pushing up her glasses to her forehead and pinching the bridge of her nose. “That’s possible, I suppose. We should be able to dodge around him in reality, right? Do we need to face him directly?”

“We shouldn’t have to. There is _one_ thing we may need to do in reality, but that won’t be until later, and we won’t have to directly confront him.” Morgana paused in his pacing, trotting up to Akiza’s head after a moment and butting his own against her hand. “Are you still okay with this?”

“I am.” Her answer was instant and uncompromising. “Even if I wasn’t before, after what happened today with Suzui… I am.” She reaffirmed, instead of elaborating.

“Good. In that case, we should head back into the Palace tomorrow. I’m very close to confirming my theory, and if I’m right, we won’t need to get testimonies out of students to take him down.”

“I hope so. He needs to go down as soon as possible. I can’t…” She swallowed. “I can’t let this keep going.” All of the emotional buildup from before started to come back, along with some new blame, thinking about how things had ended between Ann and Shiho. The girl set her glasses off to the side, and rubbed her eyes some.

Morgana stared at her pensively, tail swishing side to side. “Hey,” he piped up after a moment, hopping over to the work desk. “C’mere. I’ll show you how to make infiltration tools.”

Akiza picked her head up, brow furrowed at him for a moment, before she swung her legs off and put her glasses back on.

“Alright, so the first thing you have to know about smoke bombs is…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, first off, I wanna apologize for the month of total silence between updates. Life and other things got in the way for a while, but things have cleared up a bit now.
> 
> That said, we're not gonna be sticking to our previous "7 to 10 days" update schedule quite as hard anymore. Updates will more likely be every 1 to 2 weeks, though that's more an estimate than a hard rule.
> 
> Anyway, this chapter and the one before it are where the story has started to really come into its own in terms of brand new content, and we're really proud of it.
> 
> You all are what drive us forward, and I can't tell you how excited I am whenever one of us gets to tell the other that we have a new comment. We hope you enjoy!
> 
> \- **Rabbit**
> 
> I'm seconding what Rabbit has had to say, the comments are always really nice to see. Losing my internet for a while, among other things, set us back, but we're both happy to be back on this horse. If nothing else, it's given us a lot of time to refine some ideas and sprinkle more along the way :)
> 
> \- **Audible**
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	6. Shine On, You Crazy Diamond (Part 3)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW: Kamoshida and Shadow Kamoshida typical. Sexual harassment, unwanted (but not explicit) touching, anxiety.  
> Today's Chapter Title: [Shine On, You Crazy Diamond](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54W8kktFE_o)

_4/14_

Akiza was headed back to her classroom for lunch when she was stopped in her tracks.

“Kurusu! Got a minute?”

Cold dread crawled up Akiza’s spine at the sound of Kamoshida’s voice, and Morgana’s whispers from her bag were immediate.

“Remember to breathe. You’ll be okay, I’m right here and you can go to the roof if you need to.”

She couldn’t respond to him, of course, not without looking completely nuts, so she settled for giving the bag under her arm a slight squeeze of acknowledgement as she turned to face Kamoshida. A polite expression plastered itself onto her face.

“Hello, Mr. Kamoshida. Can I help you?” The words were even and natural. No weird overstimulation yet, at least.

“I just wanted to apologize for yesterday,” he began, hands on his hips. The massive man blew a stream of air out in a sigh, looking down at her with a worried brow. Akiza knew it was fake, of course, but the appearance of genuine concern shook her just a bit more. “I assumed that Sakamoto was going to rub off on you, but from what I hear of your performance in class so far, you might just rub off on him!”

_Oh god, this is the most horribly forced laughter in history,_ Akiza thought as she managed a chuckle along with the gym teacher.

“I’ve heard you’re spending time with Takamaki as well. She’s a close friend of mine, so I know you’re keeping good company.” Akiza felt Julie _seethe_ at that, and she wasn’t far behind.

**Horrid tyrant! We will cast him from his throne, and make him grovel at our feet!**

“Takamaki-san’s very nice,” Akiza returned, trying to find a neutral response. “We sit next to each other in class, and we share a train line, so we get to talk a lot. She’s helping me get used to Shujin.” _Oh god, should I have said that we share a train line? What if he starts stalking us?_ She thought for half a millisecond before remembering, _no, wait, he’s a teacher, he can just access our addresses anyways._ It didn’t make her feel better.

“That’s great! I’m glad to hear you’re getting accustomed to Shujin. I was sorry to hear that your record was leaked to the students,” _My record was **what?**_ “The faculty was meant to keep that under wraps. I doubt you’ve had much luck joining any clubs with all the rumors.”

Not all of the details were leaked, _obviously_ , but… What? Is that how the criminal charge got out? Who did it? _Why?_ Was it… him?

_Why?_

“You know,” he began, hand on his chin, eyes scanning her up and down in a manner that suggested he was more looking _through_ her than otherwise, not that either was great. “You’re very tall for your age. Nice long athlete’s legs, too, and not much fat on you. With a little effort, you’d fill out a volleyball uniform perfectly.”

_What--_

Frozen by his gaze as she was, Akiza couldn’t step to avoid the large hand that clapped her on the shoulder, resting there like a thousand-ton weight.

“Even if none of the other clubs will have you, the volleyball team would welcome you. Give it some thought, okay? My door’s always open.”

In that moment Akiza couldn't tell which was louder, the heartbeat hammering in her ears or Julie’s banshee shrieks of unbridled fury. He squeezed her shoulder, feeling to her as if he were about to shatter it, flashing a smile before releasing her and turning away. She stood there, rooted to the spot, until he left.

Kamoshida rounded the corner and Akiza blinked, stumbling out of the hallway and towards the stairs, taking in the fresh air above and willing herself not to vomit.

Haru wasn’t there, a fact that she wasn’t sure exactly how to process. It was probably for the best. Only showing up to the other girl in such a haphazard state would almost certainly leave a bad impression. Still, some part of her couldn’t help wanting the other girl there. Her brown eyes had been nice, and her voice was so easy to listen to, and--

_Fuck, I can’t do this right now._

Akiza pulled out her phone and texted Ann, saying she had to take a call that would last too long, and that the blonde shouldn’t wait up for her back in the classroom.

**Steady,** Julie warned, knife-edge of rage still present in her voice. **They are friends of their own volition. They will be there if you need them.**

_I know. I know, and I’ll be there later, I just…_ Her eyes wandered to the small differences in the garden. Haru had been here today, the fertilizer had been moved. She was probably just enjoying lunch with some of her own friends. _I need a minute. They’ve got enough going on already._

Julie didn’t say anything else, but stayed with her all the same. The sky was bright and blue, insulting and perfect. It made her want to spit on it. Morgana poked out when she failed to say anything in time, then curled in her lap while she leaned heavily against the steel access.

It took the rest of the break to calm down all the way, and even then, her notes next period were uneven, betraying the small shakes she wanted to ignore. It was fine. This afternoon, they’d just have to get some results.

* * *

Joker once more tested the weight of the pistol in her off hand, putting it all behind in the real world before tugging on the red gloves. “Alright Mona, last night you told me we were close to being able to do something to Kamoshida from here. What’s our goal?”

Mona grinned, then looked over everyone else, making sure they were listening. “Today, we’re going to get into the upper levels of the Palace. As we’ve been over, everything here ties back to Kamoshida’s state of mind. Distorted desires don’t just come from nowhere, though, they’re the result of a fixation. Putting those two things together, it’s my theory that the source of that fixation should be something physical here. If we can get our hands on _that_ , then we should be able to change Kamoshida’s Heart.”

Skull put his bat over one shoulder. “And then, what? We just make him fess up?”

“Basically.”

Clover’s eyes were intense. “Is that all we can do with his Heart?”

Mona hummed. “Well, a Heart is something like… the source of, well, _you_. It’s your desires. Not just the conscious ones, but your unconscious ones too; from your biggest dreams to just, breathing. We could probably change anything about him.” His gaze flicked to Joker. “Whatever we decide to do, I’m willing to help, but so far all I’ve been suggesting is the ability to steal distorted desires. With a damaged Heart, it’s not likely a Ruler would survive.”

_Why did he look at me?_

Joker tried to gauge the others’ reactions. Clover looked thoughtful at least, but Skull couldn’t seem to meet their eyes. The blonde girl spoke. “Is that a risk, with what we’re doing? Could we end up killing Kamoshida instead?”

“It’s possible. Nothing in the Palace would want to hurt its reason for existing, so it would be up to us. Remember, this is all just theory, even if I’m confident in it.”

Again, Joker looked to the other two. They deserved the biggest say in this. “If we take away his ability to hurt people, will that be enough?”

There was a pause as Skull managed to glance up at Clover, and they shared a look. Both were spirited, reassuring - they were in this together after all - but there was no denying that the question demanded at least some thought. Clover was the first to speak. “If he’s dead, then he’s just some gym teacher who died. Not ‘the abusive pedophile rapist gym teacher’. Nobody would ever know the truth.” Her voice gave the impression that she didn’t much care what happened after that.

“Yeah,” Skull rubbed the back of his neck. “Him kickin’ the bucket won’t get the track team back together, and it sure as hell won’t get him payin’ for what he did.”

“Then we’re in agreement for now,” Joker finished. “We’ll keep investigating.”

Mona nodded. The briefing didn’t last much longer. He elaborated that their previous point of entry had been used too many times now to guarantee that it’d still be safe. Just as she was starting to come up with another potential method of entry, though, the not-cat pulled a wrist-mounted grappling hook from his satchel, handing it over.

“Just use it, don’t think too hard,” he instructed.

A combination of her holding onto Clover while using the new grappling hook and Mona riding up with Skull on Captain Kidd’s boat got them in through a high window, where the last thing she noted before moving onto the upper floors was that this path gave them direct access to the main hall’s chandelier.

“Alright,” Joker spoke some confidence into the group’s nerves (her own especially). “From here on, there will be nothing but new territory. Let’s stay focused, and keep moving.”

The rest nodded, and they slipped into the shadows.

* * *

Joker found her readiness waning the further they made it. The decor had turned from gaudy and flashy to something much worse, the stonework of the floors becoming uneven and harder to traverse. Along the way there were statues and artworks of women without faces, focusing on the parts that Kamoshida himself no doubt did. The color of the air, the taste of it, shifted unnaturally, permeated with lavender and the smell of flowers.

Mona cited the change, and the unnatural-looking stone that shifted, giving or taking away cover, as a sign that the distortion was growing stronger. It meant they were closer to their goal, and on the right track, no matter how disgusting.

“Jack-o-Lantern!” She hissed, starting a carpet-fire that quickly got the attention of two knights patrolling between statues. Progressively, the knights with masks on had shown more variation, higher ranks, better armor. It made removing their masks a gamble, but one they had to take if they wanted to keep off the Palace’s radar and manage all the other increased dangers at the same time.

Clover nodded from across the room, on opposite cover while the two knights began stamping the fire out. Both girls dashed in and leapt on the knights’ backs, yanking free their masks in a spew of ichor.

The stunned Shadows shuffled away, a knight on horse-back they’d seen a few times already and an airborne demon with a wicked grin. Skull clambered from behind his cover on one of the statues, picked the more vulnerable target, and let a couple blasts loose from his shotgun, turning the demon into scraps of black before it could do anything else. The fight didn’t last much longer, because it couldn’t afford to, but when the hose was on its knees, Joker offered the Shadow a place on the winning team. A new Persona, Berith, accepted.

The nature of their plan meant going loud in short bursts, then moving on while Shadows closed in on their previous location. It left a trail that even the elite knights couldn’t seem to figure out, thankfully, and they’d saved a lot of their Persona-specific energy this way, but it still meant leaving a more dangerous path behind them with every step. The trip out would be much more hazardous than their so-far smooth trip in.

Still, thinking too hard about that would only get her spirits down, so Joker grit her teeth and kept moving.

“I wish I had more than just this gun,” Clover whispered, looking put-off. Joker nodded, but kept her eyes forward as they crept along. Taking point meant she couldn’t say much. Mona made up for that with some praise from the back.

“You’ve been doing great. This wouldn’t be going anywhere _near_ as smooth without a fourth pair of hands.”

“Yeah, come on,” Skull bumped the girl’s shoulder. “Think about how much ass you’re kicking _without_ one of those Persona things. We’ll get there.”

“I _know that_ ,” Clover hissed. “It’s just--” Joker held up a hand for them to stop. They were too close to a door without knowing what was on the other side. “Ugh, forget it.”

* * *

Clover huffed, keeping it all down for the sake of the mission. Whatever they’d been looking for, Mona was sure he’d sense it, but so far there was no sign of the thing. After a much needed break in a safe room, they were able to decompress and agree that if the thing they were looking for was a fixation, Kamoshida must have kept it close. There was no way he’d trust something like that to anyone else, or keep it far from wherever he felt most powerful. The gym room/temple from earlier was already a bust, so that left the throne room they’d heard about as their next target.

Up, and up, and up. Keeping pace with the other three was starting to make her sore, and it probably had something to do with not having a Persona for herself. Not that she’d let a detail that small hold them back from figuring out a way to help Shiho.

_It’s just like a photoshoot. For as long as it takes, you can hold the pose._

After having passed quickly through a corridor with no cover, they slid carefully into the next room. Even the light itself seemed to slip away in the vast room they’d entered, shifting into columns of the color that made it up rather than the same impossible blackened gold that rained down everywhere else outside the castle. This room in particular seemed to stretch up forever, or at least a few floors, with the only cover available being a circle of stone blocks at the center of the base floor, keeping whatever was inside completely obscured. The crimson tapestries hanging from all along the stairs were the only things in the area that even vaguely resembled the rest of the castle.

_What a pain in the ass. There better not be any more of those weird BDSM angel things flying around here._

A voice came from the center. It was around the corner now as they paced, and it sounded like… “Aww, don’t be like that. You can take another night!”

It sounded like _her voice_.

~~Clover~~ Ann couldn’t help breaking rank. She pressed past Joker, despite the quick gesture the other girl made for her to stop. It was too late. Ann was staring into the enclosed space at the center, where a version of… _herself_ was looking at a version of Shiho, hands on her hips with a tight smile. Neither was in anything but lingerie.

_No._

“I…” this Shiho, crouched low to the ground, stuttered. Quiet. Unsure.

Terrified.

“You _what?_ ” The other Ann’s smile tightened further. “You _know_ how things work around here? I have other things to do, you know, so _someone_ has to be there to please the King. You know how he feels about you, don’t you? I mean, _obviously_. You’re so lucky. The more attention he gives, the closer you are to being like a second Princess!”

Ann’s gut plummeted. Her body was shaking. There was a pressure on her shoulder, but it barely registered. Heat traced through her fingertips, crept along her arms. The words were _wrong_ , why did this _thing_ have her voice?

“I just… want to keep my place.” Shiho barely managed.

“You know what you need? You need a _push_. I’ve been dodging around him more and more lately so you could have your chance, but maybe what you need is for me to turn you over myself. Come here!” The other Ann grabbed Shiho by the wrist and yanked the girl up. A helpless yelp turned her insides boiling.

“YOU GET THE HELL AWAY FROM HER!” The gun at her hip was pointless. Ann closed in with only two steps, remembering everything Ryuji had ever taught her about throwing a punch, and made contact with something hard in the imitation’s cheek, sending her sprawling. The others followed after, Joker held out her pistol, trained on the downed girl while Skull and Mona covered the exit.

“Stay down.” The usual steel in Joker’s voice was absent. “You’re going to tell us some things about the King.”

“Oh, is she now?”

Another voice sounded from above, forcing them to look up. It echoed _wrong_ , grating and superior, as the King himself looked down from a few stories up, flanked by a golden knight at either side.

“Don’t move!” Joker shouted. “Unless you want to lose your Princess.”

“Something’s wrong,” Mona hissed quietly. “Where are all the Shadows he normally summons…?”

Kamoshida couldn’t look any more smug, like nothing mattered. “You think I give a _shit_ about her? About either of the two little hostages you thieves have got down there?” His steps were heavy, and the words crawled from his mouth. “They’re all replaceable. Each and every single one. Hell, you think Takamaki’s the first toy I’ve bent out of shape? Go nuts. I’ll just start from zero with someone else.”

Before the sentence was finished, Joker’s aim had snapped up to the King; one, two, three, _four_ shots rang out, all stopped by a shield that moved in front of him in less than a blink. A new energy saturated the room, heavy and hateful. Kamoshida’s voice filled the space. “I WON’T BE COWED IN MY OWN CASTLE ANY LONGER!”

“What the fuck is going on, this isn’t what he was like before at all!” Skull shouted.

“Something must have changed his cognition in the real world.” Mona answered. “I don’t know what happened, but if he feels invincible out there, it’ll impact how strong he is here, too.”

Ann pulled her hood down, and surprise flashed across Kamoshida’s face before it settled into that _disgusting_ grin it had been before. “Then I’ll _make_ him feel vulnerable!” The heat from before had yet to leave, blood filling her ears, standing on legs that shook but she was so _sure_ now that nothing could make her take a knee again. “You think you’re anything!? You’re nothing but a washed up athlete that has to abuse high schoolers to feel good, and you’ve got the _nerve_ to twist them to your sick needs on top of that? Take a good look at me, Kamoshida, because it won’t be long before your Heart’s in my hands, and when it is, I won’t forgive a _single_ thing you’ve done! I’m _through_ smiling for people like you.”

The bastard leapt from his place and landed with a thud onto the stone block ahead of them, scattering rubble as it cracked from the impact. Shiho flinched, and it brought attention to how close he was to the other girl now. His words curled sickeningly through the air.

“Ah, but that’s the charm of it, isn’t it?” Skull, Mona, and Joker all aimed at him, never mind that they didn’t have much ammo left, and took a step forward. Skull began circling along the back slowly, angling towards Shiho. “You put up all that fight and say all these words, but in the end you know who has the _real_ power, don’t you? If you _really_ felt that way, you’d just say ‘no’. But ya never did, did you? Just like I know you won’t tomorrow. And the _best_ part, you little slut?”

Kamoshida’s sneer was downright inhuman. In fact, his face had changed some, hadn’t it? It wasn’t quite so pink before, or angular. “You’re just one girl. All it takes from me is a few words, and there won’t be a single soul out there who’d listen to you. Besides… It’s not your decision to make, is it?” His eyes turned onto Shiho, who seemed frozen there. “Come on, slave. You don’t want to be sent to prison, do you? There’s no _future_ there.”

Somewhere inside, Ann knew that this was all just in Kamoshida’s fucked up head. That it was all down to how easily he could continue to act the way he did, _knowing_ how the people he tormented really felt, and that it wasn’t real. But, seeing that kind of honest to god fear on any version of Shiho’s face threatened to make her fall apart on the spot. Her best friend - the one she’d shared countless secrets and tears with - was inching towards the man that had ripped apart their lives and torn it to shreds like a game-- like life was _his game_.

Ann felt a growl building. And she would _not_ stand for that in _any_ reality!

**That’s right! He should be the one dancing in _your_ palm.**

The force of the thought impacted her head like a hammer, shunting her to the side, forced to lean heavily against one of the blocks but refusing to fall. Shiho broke away from Kamoshida’s gaze, looking back.

**Discard the fear in your heart, and there will be no opportunities for men like him to control you again. Do you hear me, Ann Takamaki?**

A hand came to her head, burning, _burning_ , there was fire on her fingertips, hot and red, a surge of passion that threatened to explode within if she didn’t let it out right now.

“It’s happening again.” Joker said behind her.

_Yes! Yes, I hear you!_

**Excellent! Break free, little flame, and take back your life! It is yours alone to give, and ours to see THRIVE!**

~~Ann~~ Clover stood fully to face Kamoshida, already aware of the blue flame that crept across her body, dancing in the prismatic light. Her fingers grabbed the edge of a red mask.

**_“I am thou. Thou art I!”_ **

Blood came free and evaporated into the air, shot pink gloves gripping the edge of a cat-like mask adorned with a ribbon. Her fingers brushed against the ruffled half-skirt hung along her right side, clipping free the coiled whip that sat there. It cracked into the air as she stamped a boot to the ground, commanding the appearance of her new partner, Carmen. The Persona appeared in a puff of the same blue flame - a tall woman in a long, frilled dress featuring bands of red, black, and gold, vine-like leashes dragging two suited figures with hearts for heads in the air behind her.

“ _Fuck_ yes!” Skull shouted, eyes on Kamoshida. “Oh, you’re _so_ screwed now.”

The King, for his part, started to reach out to grab Shiho, but Clover’s whip uncoiled in that instance, snapping through the air and wrapping around his arm. She tugged back quickly, lifting a heel at the same time and slamming it down against the taut length, bringing him swiftly to the ground. Skull made it to Shiho, bringing her back behind their line.

“Carmen!” She declared. “I don’t want to see his face any more.”

That energy the others had talked about before, the different kind their Personas used, she had so _much_ of it! It flowed so easily from her to Carmen, a burst that seemed to surprise even her Persona with the intensity of the flame that appeared in the woman’s hands.

**How ferocious! What a roaring flame!**

It was sent forward with a snap, engulfing the upper body of the man that had tormented her friends for too long. A howl of pain came from the smoke, the bastard’s cape and hair singed as he got up while Clover pulled her whip back, already prepared for the next move.

_I think we’ll get along just fine, Carmen._

**Likewise.**

Kamoshida growled, his features becoming less like the real deal’s; skin pink a way that burns couldn’t make it, eyes burning golden and ears drawn back into points, teeth morphing to nothing but sharp edges. “Fine, if you’re so eager for me to end your life, I won’t even share the news! Envoys!” He pointed skyward, to the golden knights she’d completely forgotten about. “My crown.”

From one of them appeared something much grander than the golden spikes that he wore atop his head now. Mona snapped to, eyes wide.

“That’s it! That’s the source! I couldn’t feel it over his presence before, but that’s definitely what we’ve been looking for.”

“Should we take it now?” Joker asked, aiming her grappling hook.

“No, we just have to keep him from putting that on. We’ve got no chance right now if the Ruler manages to fully align with the source of their distortion.”

The crown plummeted through the air, towards Kamoshida’s outstretched hand. Mona cried out, summoning Zorro and a gale of wind that ripped it off course, its sharp tips catching in the fabric of the lowest tapestry and hanging there. Joker made good on her own plan, zipping over to play keep-away while above the two golden knights dissolved into what Mona had called Archangels - fully-plated knights with massive orange wings.

Thinking quickly, Clover lit a fire on all the tapestries above Joker, sending smoke up that choked the Shadows out and made it impossible to see below them. They wouldn’t be a problem any time soon, but Kamoshida’s focus was singular, scowl tearing across his face while he turned to the crown. Joker started bunching up the fabric in her fists, climbing higher onto the tapestry. A worried thought started to form, taking in the setup, but was ripped away by the sound of Mona’s voice.

“Nice thinking, Clover,” he praised, hopping up onto one of the blocks, blade drawn. “Skull, keep Joker safe. I think the Ruler’s about to try something.”

“You got it. _Captain Kidd!_ ” Into the air came the pirate atop its boat, cannons drawn skyward and ready. Kamoshida’s eyes practically lit up, catching the fires in a dangerous way, before taking steps forward that broke the stone, building speed. “I’ll knock that bastard clear outta the sky!”

“R-Ryuji, wait!” She shouted, but it was already too late. The simultaneous thunderclap of a cannonball firing into the air came with Kamoshida’s leap, which carried the man what must have been at least twenty feet into the air, and, straight into the projectile’s path. The moment stretched exactly long enough for them to see Joker’s immediate reaction, letting go to fall.

The man’s palm _slammed_ into the black iron, sending it crashing into Akiza. She was sent to the ground like a meteor-- there was a terrible cracking sound and Clover didn’t even want to _think_ about what might have made it, already moving to the girl’s side. “Did you idiots forget what I was a medalist for!?” Kamoshida called before bunching up the fabric as well, making towards the crown. Skull cursed, trying to compensate by sending bolts of lightning into the man, but they only staggered him briefly.

Mona was already there, channeling green waves of healing Joker’s way. “Keep him occupied until I can get her up, we’re _leaving_.”

A not so quiet voice was disappointed to not have been able to burn the man within an inch of his life after having waited so long, but her concern for the others beat that down without question. “Okay.” The blonde backpedaled, giving Skull a long enough break to help Shiho onto Kidd’s boat, then clamber up himself. Neither of their efforts were enough to prevent Kamoshida from claiming the crown, but they’d bought the time.

On her right, Joker was hanging onto consciousness, having summoned the horsed knight she’d recruited earlier, sitting on the inside, protected, while Mona had his sword planted at the exit they’d come through, a serious look in his eyes.

“All of you, out! I’ll be right behind you.”

“Bullshit,” Skull frowned. “You better not be pulling some kinda heroic sacrifice crap.”

The weight of the strange creature’s words anchored the seriousness of the situation. “I don’t have any intention of dying today, but if we don’t start moving now, it won’t matter how hard we fight.”

None of them needed to hear more than that. Clover clambered onto the rear-edge of the saddle, sitting backwards with an arm looped around the knight’s side as one of the knight’s own arms reached around to her, keeping them connected.

Snarling, Kamoshida put on his new crown. A chill broke through even the fire in her, and made everyone shiver as black ichor seemed to seep through every crack, descending and coalescing over him until it drew up into a shape that filled a third of the massive room. The image was disgusting; raw, pink skin made up a sinuous, six-limbed _thing_. Its tongue lolled out, trailing against the ground, pairs of arms slamming golden cutlery into the stone and starting to drag the screaming creature forward with alarming speed.

Everyone moved at once, the horse and boat shooting past into the corridor they’d come through before. Mona drew his sword, aimed forward. All at once, with the same otherworldly energy she’d felt every time one of them had awoken to a Persona, streaks of green wind _erupted_ forward, buffeting and beating against the giant like a storm. The spell made impact in a way that none of their previous attacks had, and it shocked her to see.

_What the hell? Where did **that** come from?_

Clover wasn’t exactly sure _how_ Mona was planning to make it back to them until she heard, “Zorro!” and the barrel-chested Persona easily picked up their guide, flinging him through the air like a projectile. She loosed her whip in his direction and Mona caught on, but without a second arm to yank back, she had to summon Carmen briefly to help. The leashed men pulled on the whip in unison, and a moment later, the cat was safely in her lap.

“Are you okay!?” She yelled, admittedly sort of freaked out now.

“Ow. Yes,” he groaned, looking dazed, claws sinking into one of her legs to hang on. The pain barely registered as another roar came from where they’d been, the King’s true form exploding through what had once been a doorway, chunking into the stone with each incision and gaining speed.

“What do we do?” Joker could barely be heard over everything, her voice pained and uncharacteristically desperate.

“We’ve got to get away,” Mona was able to rationalize. “I’m not even sure if a Safe Room would help us now, we just have to figure out a place to hide or somehow tear through whatever Shadows will be waiting for us at any of the major exits.”

That last option may as well not have been a plan at all, and every one of them knew it. But, hiding from a thing like that? How…

“If you wanna get away, it’s gotta be somewhere open,” Skull called over. “The more places we coulda gone, the better chance they’ll just head the wrong way.”

Clover gasped. “Let’s use that rooftop place, the one with all the boxes!”

“Good idea,” Mona confirmed.

Joker was looking back over the knight’s shoulder. “Clover. Reach into my pockets. I’ve got some smoke bombs that should cover our escape when the time’s right.”

“Got it.”

The rooftop access was still far away, but with the frantic pace they were making, it felt within reach. Skull and herself worked together to shock aside or just plain _immolate_ some of the Shadows they’d been worried about before, spending energy in spades. They couldn’t afford to slow down at all, not when obstacles didn’t exist to the thing chasing them down.

Before long the exit to the outside came into view, and she slammed a couple smoke bombs to the ground, choking the doorway entirely. As soon as they were outside, she spent the rest with frenzied speed, covering the air and making it impossible to see a thing. Fleeing into the courtyard below, even with the time they’d bought, wouldn’t be an option. Kamoshida was still too close, and getting spotted now was a death sentence. Together, they dismissed their Personas and crouched beneath one of the outermost crates, hidden from view. A couple dozen feet away, the King roared again.

“WHERE ARE YOU, THIEVES? YOUR PUNISHMENT IS DEATH, BUT I DECIDE HOW LONG IT WILL TAKE. COME OUT NOW, AND I’LL AT LEAST MAKE IT QUICK.”

It wasn’t going to work. Kamoshida wasn’t moving on. They could only hold their breaths in the smoke for so long, and, and…

Shiho began to move away, but Ann couldn’t reach out, or else risk coughing on the smoke. Standing up farther away, the other girl shouted. “King! They abandoned me and--” a fit of coughs interrupted her. “And went that way!” Which way had she pointed? Was she selling them out?

“AH, NOW THAT’S A GOOD SLAVE. I’LL BE SURE TO REWARD YOU WHEN I’M DONE.”

And then, the thundering steps receded, crashing through the exit that led to the lower floors of the castle. A minute later, and the smoke disappeared to reveal a shaking Shiho, and the rest of her friends all breathing heavily. Ann ran over immediately, holding Shiho close, who held her just as tightly. It was so fucked up. It felt _just like her_.

“You saved us…”

“I can’t…” Shiho’s voice started and stopped in her ear. “I can’t change anything. I don’t matter. But I can at least keep you out of this.”

“You matter!” Ann cried immediately, tears flowing. “You matter _so much_ , Shiho, don’t _ever_ say that.”

Morgana’s voice broke through the pounding in her head. “Clover… that’s not Shiho.”

“I know!” She screamed. “I know.” Ann let go. She had to, there was too much at stake. But it hurt _so much_ , even still. “I’m sorry. I’ll do everything I can, okay? I’ll make sure we make it out of this, I-- I want to hear you laughing again, okay? I…” She wanted a million things. She wanted to say all of them. But he was right. This wasn’t Shiho.

“I’m sorry.” The other Shiho said, looking-- sounding, so, so small.

“Don’t be,” Ann sniffed. “That means you too.” _Whatever_ it meant, in a world so weird and fucked up. “Breaking this place is gonna mean getting you out of this too. I’ll--” the words crumbled in her mouth. “I’ll be back.”

“We’re gonna kick his ass,” Ryuji slammed a fist into a palm. “It’s a promise.”

A red glove landed on her shoulder. “We’ve got to go.”

“I know. I know.”

They descended slowly, Akiza rappelling down while the rest traveled, cramped, on Kidd’s boat. Ann looked up to see Ryuji wiping his eyes once too. They locked eyes for a minute, before having to look away. Everyone’s exit over the drawbridge was silent, and Ann cast one last look to the now-tiny Shiho, alone on the rooftops.

* * *

In the school courtyard, the sun had started to set, making the sky what felt like an inappropriate shade of orange; bright and warm. The world moved on all the same, without caring about what they’d just been through. Akiza pressed the heel of a palm to her forehead, running fingers through her hair, completely at a loss.

_What the hell are you supposed to say after that?_

A few long minutes later, Ann broke the silence. “I’m going home. I… just need some time.”

“Don’t do anything reckless,” Morgana tried warning as neutrally as possible, adding a single word with much more care afterwards. “Please.”

The other girl frowned. “I’m going to try to get in touch with Shiho. I don’t think I’d have any luck if I went by her home, so I’ll just have to keep calling until she picks up.” She looked up from the ground, to the rest of them, so they all looked to her as well. “I’m… I wouldn’t want to be doing anything else, if what we’re doing is going to help her. So, thank you. For everything.”

It was probably the best anyone could get across the kind of emotions that had passed while they were running away, so Akiza nodded. “Of course.” She hoped those two words got across everything she wanted to as well.

“Hey, Ann,” Ryuji began, making an effort to stand straighter. “If you need anything, call me alright?”

Ann smiled. “Thanks.” And then hesitated, before putting some energy into her voice. “Alright! Let’s make some plans tomorrow. Now that we know what we’re looking for, it should get easier, right?” She winked at Morgana.

“That’s right!” The cat meowed. “The hardest part is behind us now. Get some rest, Clover, and we’ll get back to work as soon as we can.”

Ann laughed a little, and for once it was hard to tell if it was forced or not. “That code name doesn’t really work for me any more, does it? How about you call me… Panther.” The girl turned, and started to walk away. “See you tomorrow.”

“See ya.” Ryuji waved. As soon as Ann had turned the corner, he slouched heavily, and it became obvious to her how hard he was leaning on his uninjured leg. The blond made a sort of dismissive noise, then gestured into the air. “Hey, I’m starving. You want something to eat?”

What Akiza really wanted at the moment was to lay down and sleep for about three years. Food with Ryuji was a very close second.

* * *

The train to Ogikubo was packed, as all trains in Tokyo seemed to be. Ryuji stood next to her, close enough to dissuade harassers but not so close that she felt crowded. The gesture wasn’t lost on Akiza. None of them spoke on the way there, memories of the castle still fresh in their minds. The restaurant that he brought them to was, blessedly, not too crowded, and they sidled into a booth near the back.

“Man, this is really startin’ to kick off, huh?” Ryuji was the one to break the silence that hung between the three of them, waving to get the server’s attention. “When Ann got her Per-- uh, her thing,” he corrected, catching a stink-eye from Morgana at his near-slip. “For a sec, I thought that we had this thing in the bag, y’know?”

“I hoped so, too.” Akiza raked a hand through her hair, stripping off her uniform jacket and laying it on the seat next to her. She winced as she turned, poking gingerly at her side, where she suspected an ugly bruise hid. _Probably_ not a broken rib?

“I’m uh, really sorry, by the way.” Ryuji awkwardly fumbled with his phone after the server left with their orders. “I wasn’t thinkin’ in there, and--”

“It’s fine,” Akiza interjected. “You had no idea he was gonna do that, and neither did I.” In truth, a small part of her _was_ irked at how it had unfolded, but the rational part of her brain reminded her that there was no way they could have anticipated Kamoshida’s Shadow spiking a cannonball at her from thirty feet up.

“It ain’t _fine_. God, you sound like Ann.” Ryuji’s little chuckle was mirthless, and he refused to meet Akiza’s gaze. “You got hurt ‘cause I did somethin’ stupid. I’m used to messin’ up, but I can’t help kickin’ myself whenever other people get hurt ‘cause of me.”

Akiza bit her lip, thinking for just a second. “I mean, okay, it’s not fine, I got hurt, but it’s not like _you_ did that, you know? And if you knew that was gonna happen, you would’ve tried something else, and maybe it would’ve been you getting hurt. _Someone_ was gonna get hurt in there, it just… happened. He _happened_ to all of us.”

Morgana butted his head against Akiza’s arm, looking up at her with concern. “...Do you wanna talk about what happened at lunch?” Akiza sighed, deflating slightly; there was no real reason to keep it hidden, but she still didn’t want to burden the others with _more_ details about--

“Wait, did he do somethin’ again? Two days in a row? God, are you okay?” Ryuji was nearly leaning halfway across the table, palms flat and _heartbreaking_ worry writ plain on his face.

“...Yeah. He, uh. Made a pass at me.” Akiza settled back in her booth seat, fiddling with one of her suspenders as she recounted the event. Morgana curled up under her hand, and the sensation of his fur under her fingers helped put her at ease. By the end, Ryuji looked as if he was about to burst into flames from anger.

“God, that _son of a bitch!_ ” His fist slammed on the table, and a hissed _Ryuji!_ from Akiza and Morgana set him back into his seat. One leg was bouncing a mile a minute under the table, and his jaw ground harshly. “I can’t _fuckin’_ believe him. He’s never goddamn satisfied, is he?” The blond thankfully lowered his voice, folding his arms across his chest and staring at the table with enough force to bore a hole through it. “It ain’t enough that he’s beatin’ up the guys and doin’ _that_ to the girls, he’s gotta prey on the new kid.”

“I know. I was kinda too shell-shocked to be mad at the time. I just felt… _sick_. Like, the way he was looking at me, like I was some object, a photo in a magazine.” _Is this how Ann feels? How does she even get out of bed?_

A horrid, awful part of Akiza couldn’t help but think; _Are you enjoying being a girl yet?_

Julie didn’t say anything, but the sensation that Akiza felt in her soul was that of a wing, raven-dark, draping protectively over her shoulders.

Ryuji blew hot air, one hand gripping the glass of soda he’d ordered and looking away. “Ah, fuck…” Their focus was waning, or, perhaps, dialing in too hard on the wrong things. The King had no sway here, and _god damn_ if she was going to let him ruin her night too.

“We’ve gotta stop this.” She said, determined.

Ryuji looked back, sort of confused. “I mean, yeah, we’re not gonna _stop_ goin’ after hi--”

“No, not that,” she planted both hands on the table. “I mean, this. Blaming ourselves. We keep acting like everything bad that happens to us is our fault, and I’m _tired_ of it. Bad stuff just happens, and sometimes it’s nobody’s fault. _Kamoshida_ did this to us. We didn’t.” She turned one hand over, palm up, and pushed it towards Ryuji. “And if we’re gonna do this, we have to be there for each other. All of us. I’m not gonna let anybody shoulder this alone, and I need you guys to make sure I don’t either.”

His gaze fixed on her as she spoke, brown eyes drinking in her newfound determination before flicking down to her outstretched hand. He reached out with one of his own, stopped himself for a moment, and then pushed on, laying his hand in hers and curling his fingers around it. They were warm and sort of rough.

“...Yeah. Yeah, you’re right.” He smiled a little, looking back up at her, and she couldn’t help but let his sweeping grin spread to her as well. Something about Ryuji’s smile was downright infectious.

For one traitorous moment, Akiza allowed herself to indulge in the thought that she wanted to kiss it off his face.

Of course, the server chose that instant to bring their ramen bowls, right as they were holding hands and smiling bashfully at each other. They pulled apart with a jolt, and it didn’t escape Akiza’s eye that Ryuji was blushing just a bit, the same as her.

Ramen, it turned out, was a great conversation starter, as they eagerly dove into their bowls and chatted about their favorite types and places to get it. Akiza, of course, snuck bits to Morgana when possible, who took them eagerly. It was nice, she thought, to have a normal conversation with this boy she considered her friend.

They talked about TV, they talked about movies, they talked about games and food and music. Anything and everything that wasn’t school or the castle.

He walked with her to the train station afterwards, bidding her goodnight as he got on a line going in the opposite direction of Yongen-Jaya. As she rode back to Leblanc, Akiza basked in the memory of his thousand-watt smile over the steaming bowls of ramen, his fumble with his chopsticks, the way his eyes crinkled when he laughed--

One hand strayed absently over her cheek, feeling the little heat rising there. Another crush to nurture from afar.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Audi wrote the bulk of this chapter and absolutely killed it. We really hit our stride here and it shows, imo this is our best work yet. More and more ideas kept spilling out as we went and it all snowballed into this amazing thing. We hope you enjoy <3
> 
> \- **Rabbit**
> 
> There's about to be a few links. So, first and foremost, thank you to [natade-art](https://natade-art.tumblr.com/post/171541495756/reference-of-my-ann-redesign-some-modifications) on tumblr for allowing us to use the Ann redesign on display, it kicks a tremendous amount of ass, as does the rest of the art there. Give the blog a look! Next, thank you to [Turandot](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LostOzian/pseuds/Turandot) for helping us decide between Ann redesigns in the first place, as well as helping me let go of 'Clover', haha. She does P5 fics as well, so if any of them catch your fancy, give them a read!
> 
> Secondly, in terms of comments on the actual chapter, I had a bit more in mind for Ann's awakening, but the final sequence ended up flowing better without it. Whips are so versatile and fun to work with in choreography though, so we'll be getting plenty more of her showing off later, I promise. Might even be giving her another weapon at some point 👀
> 
> And as one final thing, even though we didn't end up using it, my heart goes out to the Ann redesign I wanted to use by [@soggystyrofoam](https://twitter.com/soggystyrofoam/status/1277068997427486720?s=19) (click the link to see) because I _loved_ the energy in it, among a whole buncha other reasons. Ultimately, the one on display above will work out better for us, but I still adore everything about this design.
> 
> See ya next chapter <3
> 
> \- **Audible**
> 
> Thank you for reading!


	7. Innocence

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're changing the way we're doing Content Warnings, to prevent spoilers for people who that matters to. Click "more notes" and it'll take you to the bottom, where the warnings will be the first text in **bold**. Then you can hit the "top" button to go straight back, the rest is just the usual notes.
> 
> CW: See 'More Notes'.  
> Today's Chapter Title: [Innocence](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lz10F2Rtqv8)

_4/14_

When Ann returned home, to a house with no lights on, the first thing she did was send Shiho a few texts. Every part of her was exhausted, her heart was in pain, and even though she’d been doing almost nothing but think about how things had ended between them the other day, it still hurt. What she really wanted to do was hear her voice as soon as possible, and to promise that things would be alright; that a solution was on its way, that they just needed to hold on a little longer, and that if Shiho needed her to be there, she would.

But pushing too hard right now might end up having the complete opposite effect, and that was a risk that she just couldn’t take. So the TV was flicked on, and a few more lights, just so she wasn’t sitting in the dark, and there was more than the occasional ringing in her ears. Her eyes flicked back to the phone every minute, even if, obviously, she would hear it ding before seeing whatever the message might have been.

A call! Ann answered, and the words exploded out:

“Shiho, listen, I--!” But, it wasn’t her.

“Ann-chan,” it was _Kamoshida_. “I’ve been trying to get in touch all day. Any reason you haven’t picked up yet? There’s some news I’ve been meaning to share.”

Fire filled her. If Ann opened her mouth, she knew exactly what she’d say to the _sick fuck_ , but…

 **How is he best manipulated?** Carmen’s thoughts were calmer than her own. There were too many ways for it all to go wrong, and all because of that _prick_. Ann hung up. Kamoshida tried calling back, but she denied the call and then blocked his number. It almost made her feel better.

There just wasn’t enough _time_. She had to get to Shiho before Kamoshida did. Even if Shiho blamed her for losing her position, anything was better than…

Ann tried calling her. It went to voicemail.

“Shiho, it’s Ann, please pick up as soon as you can, I need to talk to you. I’m-- I’m sorry about earlier, just, _please_ call me back. This is important, I promise.”

The feeling in her stomach was unreal. Waiting took too long. She called again. Voicemail.

“Hey, I know things are hard, I…” _What do I say? What does she want to hear? What does she **need** to hear?_ “...I don’t know if you’re listening to these, but if you are, please, I promise I’m going to make this all right soon, okay? I mean it, I-- I swear. _Please_ , call me back, okay? I lo--” The word was too hard to say. “ _I’ll_ see you tomorrow.”

Ann tossed the phone across from her on the couch, and cried. The TV may as well have been static. The house was cold, and big, and so empty. The flame in her tapered, even as Carmen’s voice filled her head again.

 **They are your tears to cry,** she spoke into the silence. **I will not interrupt. When you are finished, we will act again.**

“I’m just…” Ann hiccupped. “I’m wasting time crying, aren’t I?”

**There’s no such thing as wasted tears. Not for one such as her. We _will_ act again.**

There was so much strength in her words. It turned reassurance into certainty, and allowed her to cry without guilt or shame. Everything came out so much easier, knowing it was only temporary. Later, with a sniffle, Ann looked up. “Right. I can still do more. I’m not the only one who cares.”

Ryuji’s number hadn’t changed since he’d first gotten a phone. The other blond picked up on the first ring. “Ann? What’s up, everything okay?”

 _God_ , it was stupid, the way she’d let anything get in the way of being able to hear him fussing over her again. “I will be. I can’t reach Shiho, and… I don’t think she’s going to call back, but. But I know she’ll be at school tomorrow, so I wanna make sure one of us sees her in the morning. Before _he_ does.”

“Ah, yeah, good idea,” there was the sound of shifting as he moved around. “Hang on, I’ll set my alarm.” And then a pause, where it was just his breathing. It was reassuring, in a weird way. “Things’ll work out, y’know?”

“I know. Thanks.” She smiled, sure that he could tell somehow. “I’ll message you later.” They hung up. One more person to call.

Akiza’s number was new to her. Actually, outside of school and that other place, there was a lot she didn’t know about the other girl. When this was over, she’d have to fix that. The phone rang, and Akiza picked up without much wait. The conversation between them went mostly the same as it had with Ryuji, until the end. Akiza clicked her tongue.

“Hey, Ann. About what happened yesterday with Suzui.”

Ann’s grip tightened some, before forcing herself to relax. “Mhm?”

“It… It sucks, but, it’s not any of our faults. I ended up talking to Ryuji about it earlier.” It sort of sounded like there was more the other girl wanted to say, but her words kept stopping before they really started. “I want to say more, but for once, I don’t think I know how. I guess… I’m just glad to have had a chance to change all this. Maybe that’s a lot to say over the phone this late, but… haha. I don’t know.”

“No, I get it,” Ann sprawled out across the couch, tucking a pillow under her chin. “I mean, it’s hard to even think about what things would be like if I couldn’t do anything at all. Or… if I hadn’t asked you to help a few days ago. God, it’s been less than a _week_ since then.” She laughed. Akiza did too. It wasn’t really all that funny though. “I’m glad to have met you too.”

“... Thanks.” The pause then had been so long, Ann was afraid she’d said the wrong thing. “I’m worried about the way Kamoshida was acting in there.”

“And… the ‘news’.” Ann followed. “He called me, actually. I didn’t mean to pick up, but he started to say something about it then, too.”

“Probably best not to worry about it,” Akiza said a little fast. “That part’s out of our hands. We just have to find Suzui first.”

“Right.”

There was a tiny, higher voice on the other line.

“That’s Ann, right?”

Morgana, of course. Would she have to worry about him overhearing _all_ of their phone conversations? Cats had good hearing, after all. Akiza confirmed. “Yeah, that’s her.”

The cat’s voice was suddenly much closer, close enough that she had to hold the phone away from her ear. He took on the sort of tone he’d used in the castle. “Hey! Try to get some good sleep tonight, Panther. Tomorrow we can start making good on everything I learned today.”

Ann snorted. “Okay, Mona. Thanks. You too.”

“You’re welcome!”

Akiza spoke again. “I should probably head to bed too. Try not to stay up too late.”

It wasn’t the same kind of reassurance Morgana had given. Ann wondered how late Akiza would be up tonight as well. “Yeah, alright. You too.”

The call ended, and all of them traded a few texts about where they’d be stationed tomorrow morning. Ann went to bed hoping everything would be alright.

It had to work.

* * *

_4/15_

The early morning was cold and miserable; the overcast weather didn’t want to quit, and none of them had caught even a hint of her. Asking around, checking, it was sounding more and more like Shiho hadn’t shown up at all today.

It didn’t work.

“She’s probably just at home,” Akiza was quick to reassure. It did nothing to help settle her. Ann did take _some_ relief, though, when Ryuji offered to check by her home, skipping school to do so. He’d be back not long after lunch was over, but in the mean-time, Ann had failed to listen out for anything else.

> _‘Bad news’_ _‘Her mom said she never came back_  
>  _N that Shiho was spending the night with you_  
>  _Don’t think it’s a lie either_  
>  _Sounded really worried after I asked_   
>  _Gonna ask around some more before heading back’_

Ann shot Shiho one last text.

> _‘hey, ive been looking for you_  
>  _all i need to know is that youre okay_  
>  _just. send me anything._  
>  _i care about you so much’_

It wasn’t until immediately after lunch that it happened.

A boy from the front stood up, able to see outside through another set of windows. “Hey… what’s that?”

The girl behind her shouted. “Wait, she’s going to jump!”

“Suzui?” Mishima gasped.

Ann was up before the teacher could finish whatever he was saying, breaking past the door to look outside. Shiho was on the roof opposite them, perched on the lip of the building, holding onto the fence with both hands. Fear made her freeze, before she willed her body to move. To _run_.

Her steps hammered through, pushing aside anyone who got in the way, running, _sprinting_ , heart beating out of her chest, tears already pulling themselves from her eyes.

_No. No no no no no_

At the stairs a teacher held his arms out, trying to get ahold of the situation. There were only a few other students there, one of which was the student council president making some kind of lukewarm attempt to talk her way through. Rushing forward, the teacher was forced to try and stop Ann physically, but she managed to wiggle past the narrow gap and bust through the door and land on her knees, panting her lungs out.

“Shiho!” She managed anyways, wishing with everything that she had enough for more.

Miraculously, Shiho was still there, clinging to the fence with only one hand and looking unsteady. The teacher shouted for her to return, but didn’t come out himself. The dark-haired girl looked back. “Ann?” It was so quiet over the pounding terror in her skull.

“Shho, I’m here, I--” she ran out of breath again. _Damn it!_

The other girl’s eyes snapped forward, to something that wasn’t her, and wasn’t the courtyard beneath. Wind beat against both of them. Every movement of Shiho’s clothes, the way her legs were bent in slightly, like standing all the way was impossible - it hurt so much more now.

“Shiho,” Ann tried again, after as many seconds as she dared to wait. “Please, just, hold on, okay? I’ll help you climb back over, and--”

“No!” Shiho’s voice was cracked and shrill. “I can’t go b-back! W-won’t go back, I--” It was impossible to really hear, but Ann could see the way her best friend’s chest was heaving, panicked. Every step closer brought more detail into focus; the red lines that had been dug into Shiho’s fingers and palms, gripping themselves, and squeezing the fence. “Dragging down. D-down. Shouldn’t… shouldn’t ha-have to d-deal with m--” Shiho swallowed. “With _him_.”

“I’m here, though!” A thousand things fought for room in her head at once, and every word that tumbled out felt impossibly wrong, but she couldn’t just say _nothing_. “I’m here anyways, because I-- because we deserve to be happy, an-and, I’m not leaving until you’re here with me!”

Shiho shuddered, leaning a little harder to one side. Her foot slid forward, closer to the edge to catch herself, and Ann barely managed to stifle a scream. The other girl’s tone dipped further. “C-can’t fix it. Ka… Kamo-- _he_ already… he already…”

There was a new bruise on the right side of Shiho’s face. Still, the other girl was hanging onto the fence, white-knuckled. Ann’s arms felt disconnected, like they belonged to another person, but she reached out as the distance was finally closed, and brushed fingertips against the fabric of Shiho’s sweater. No reaction, so with her right hand she squeezed the solid mass of Shiho’s right shoulder, unable to reach any farther. “Don’t think about that right now.” Ann’s left hand moved in a way Shiho would know was coming, and intertwined their fingers. She was so cold. Why was she so _cold?_ “Just… come back to me. Please. I’ll make this right. I’ll… it’ll be okay.”

There were so many people in the courtyard now, Ann could see. It was unreal, the way the whispers carried, so indistinct and still damning at the same time. Shiho looked back again, with an expression Ann knew would never leave her mind. Tear-streaked and shaking, it took a minute for the sobs to become audible. Ann squeezed her shoulder tighter, hanging on with everything.

“It’ll be okay,” Ann whispered, burying her head against the metal that divided them. “Please, come back. _Please_.”

Shiho shook her head. “Ann… I can’t… I can’t _take it anymore_.”

“You don’t have to. We don’t have to. I’m here.”

“I’m so scared.”

“I know. It’s okay. I’m here. I’m here.”

“We’re so high up.”

“I’ll help you over.”

Shiho’s expression was twisted in so many ways, in grief, and terror, while they kept eye contact, before it started to slowly melt into something like disbelief. There was a connection Ann might have been able to trace, if she could think about anything but getting her back. The dark-haired girl’s lips became a fine line, before the corner of her mouth twitched sadly up. “I… I don’t want to miss you.”

It was weird, the way those words made her manage to smile some too. “You don’t have to. I’ll be here, with you.”

“... Pull me over?”

“Of course.”

The entire process was just as nerve-wracking as walking up had been, but neither of them wanted to wait however long it would take for someone else to help. Ann clambered to the top, using the midway bar, and managed to pull Shiho back with both hands. Having to leverage her own weight ended up sending them tumbling back to the rooftop, but they were safe. Shiho was safe.

Crumpled to the ground, the fall, or being safe, or whatever it was, set the dark-haired girl off again. Shiho sobbed and sobbed and sobbed, arms wrapped around Ann’s waist. Ann pulled off her hoodie and draped it around the girl, laying an arm on Shiho’s back as gently as possible, the other threading through her hair. The motion gave her a brief window to look around, and she spotted Shiho’s backpack tucked away on one side of the rooftop entrance, almost completely hidden away.

“I’m so sorry.” Shiho croaked. “I was so stupid, I’m sorry.”

Ann spoke in the gap, trying to get her to stop. “You’re not stupid. This isn’t your fault. It’s…” It was only _one_ person’s fault, but she didn't want to say his name right now. The rage tapered down, simmering beneath her skin.

_Later._

“I was so s-scared,” Shiho continued. “I didn’t know where to go. I-I wanted you to hate me, so it’d be easier. Couldn’t go home. Couldn’t--”

Ann tried to hush her again, brushing dark, bedraggled hair from Shiho’s face, and tried not to flinch at the tenderness of her skin. The other girl’s sobs began to quiet, until becoming silent. Ann shifted her, and found that Shiho had fallen asleep.

“...Get some rest. I’ll see you soon.”

A pair of weighty steps could be heard, and movement from the corner of her eye brought Ann’s gaze away from Shiho’s frail form. Principal Kobayakawa had trundled up the stairs, the other teacher that had been staring so far stepping aside to allow two paramedics with a stretcher up as well. The large man drew himself up and spoke.

“We’ll be taking Suzui off your hands, Takamaki.” He offered a business-like smile, the fake sort she saw at shoots all the time. Ann opened her mouth to speak, but he bulldozed on. “Not to worry, I will be personally accompanying her to the hospital to ensure she receives the necessary treatment, and will inform her parents as soon as she is deemed fit to see them.”

“I’ll come with her!” Ann pressed. “She’ll need me when she wakes up.”

The paramedics looked to her, then the principal, as Ann helped them move Shiho onto the stretcher, letting her keep the hoodie. Kobayakawa shook his head. “No, you will remain at school. As I was not present to witness the events which transpired here, I cannot verify whether or not your presence would be compromising to young Suzui’s recovery or mental state.” The very idea caused some of the anger Ann had pushed down to surface. There was an edge to his tone now, one that ‘important’ men always seemed to think was intimidating. “We can suffer no intrusions that might corrupt Suzui’s account of what happened today, after all. It’s for the best, you understand.”

How far would the school go to secure its image? How could they think what had happened today wouldn’t escape through other means?

But then… the only thing that mattered to the school was what was official. Whatever came out on paper was the truth, and everything else was deniable; nothing but slander or accusations they had better be prepared to back up with irrefutable evidence.

**Your words will hold weight, Ann, but only to the right people.**

Rage carried in her eyes, but Carmen was right. This wasn’t a fight she could win.

_Yet._

Seemingly satisfied with silence, Kobayakawa harrumphed and turned about face, the paramedics already making their way down. He pulled the teacher aside, and she managed to overhear,

“Come here, you fool. We’re going to discuss what you’ve _seen_ today.”

“Y-yes sir.” The teacher blurted, and they were gone.

Ann simmered in it all, taking hold of Shiho’s backpack and waiting at the top of the stairs for them to disappear, then moving to where the hall had been made empty, before tearing off in a certain direction. She knew _exactly_ who to share her words with.

* * *

Akiza was left in the aftermath of Ann’s dead sprint from the classroom, voices cluttering her ears. The phone in her pocket vibrated. Ryuji got back a little bit ago, and had no idea why people were starting to crowd around whatever exits they could get to. It wasn’t likely they’d be able to help Ann, so she met up with him instead, ducked around a corner at the school’s main entrance.

“Dude, what’s happening?” Ryuji sputtered.

“It’s Suzui-san. She’s… up on the roof, outside the fence.” Thinking about it again made Akiza’s stomach uneasy, and the way Ryuji’s eyes shrunk did nothing to alleviate that. She spoke fast, doing her best to burn away any feeling, because now was no time to get caught up in it. “Ann’s probably already there. I’m sorry, but I need your help with something else.”

“...What else?” He answered, after a pause. They were in the same boat now.

“Earlier, when we were asking around, I noticed Mishima was more nervous than usual. When, what was happening er, hit the classroom, he bolted too. I wanted to press him later, but…” She looked down a moment. “Anyways, I think he knows something.”

“And now we’re gonna get it outta him.” Ryuji finished, fists already clenched.

She nodded. “Yeah.”

The students that had gathered near the entrance were trying to use the opportunity to leave school, and meeting resistance from whatever faculty had gathered up at the front. From them, a blue-haired boy broke off, running in the opposite direction, nearly tripping. Ryuji, apparently, had spotted Mishima before she did, and was already taking off after him. For a moment, she was afraid they were just chasing some stranger, but as they closed in, there was no mistaking the all-too-recent bruise spilling across one side of his face.

Mishima wasn’t thinking clearly, apparently, because he’d basically cornered himself running into a supply closet. The same supply closet Ann and her had questioned Shiho in, Akiza realized bitterly. Ryuji and Akiza were already blocking his escape when he turned around to face them, and looked more than a little surprised.

“What do you know?” Akiza cut straight to the point, trying to stay level. There was no telling what Mishima had been through either. He floundered, looking around.

“Wh-what do you mean?”

Ryuji’s fist slammed against a nearby locker. “You know exactly what the hell we mean! Come on, man, spill it!”

“I…” Mishima swallowed, one arm holding the other. “I don’t know what he did. N-not exactly.” There was no need to clarify who ‘he’ was. Ryuji ended up stamping a foot forward, before his expression eased some, and it was clear the intensity wasn’t directed at Mishima anymore. “He… h-he told me to send her to the PE faculty office yesterday, after practice. That’s all I know.”

Biting her cheek, it was starting to become impossible to keep her distance from it all. Rapid footsteps hammering closer caused the three of them to turn around, and seeing Ann _sprint_ past the door with an expression that radiated pure hatred set Akiza back to where she’d been before meeting Ryuji. Panicked.

She bolted after the other girl, following in the wake Ann left behind. From the sounds of it, Ryuji and Mishima had started following after, on a delay. It wasn’t until they started approaching the PE faculty office, however, that Akiza began to understand what was about to happen.

“What did you _DO_ to her!?”

Ann’s voice was torn and ragged. Akiza entered Kamoshida’s office behind her, and could finally see the tear tracks that had run down the blonde’s face. Kamoshida stopped whatever he was writing, but didn’t turn to face them.

“And what exactly is this about? I hope you have a good explanation for barging into my office like this, Ann-chan.”

“Don’t you _dare_ give me that ‘Ann-chan’ bullshit! _She almost killed herself!_ Do you really think you’re gonna get away with this!?”

Akiza felt the pieces click into place. Julie _burned_ just beneath her skin.

_Oh, god, no…_

The sound of sneakers skidding on tile broke the moment of silence that hung in the air like a carcass, Ryuji and Mishima thundering into the room behind her. Kamoshida finally looked over to the door, scowl evident on his face as he rose to his full height.

“More of you brats now? Just what evidence do you think you have against me?” Arms folded across his chest, his scowl morphed into a smirk, mirroring the arrogance of the King. To Akiza’s shock, it was Mishima who spoke up.

“Suzui will testify! A-and so will I!” Mishima’s hands, clenched into fists so tight they shook, hung stiff at his sides. “After everything you put her through, put _all of us through_ , once we testify, so will the others!”

“Oh yeah? You and what attorney, hm? Who exactly do you think would believe such ridiculous claims?” Kamoshida was _laughing_ at them now, goddamn him. “Besides, I wouldn’t count on testimony from her anyways. Last I heard, Principal Kobayakawa is taking it upon himself to make sure her account is accurate, the saint.”

Akiza swore she could hear Ann’s teeth grind together in fury before she spoke. “My parents will get a lawyer! You think they won’t have something to say when I tell them how _friendly_ you’ve been with me?”

Another chuckle from Kamoshida. “Oh, I can’t wait to tell them all about this,” he sneered. “You see, Mr. and Mrs. Takamaki, Suzui-san just couldn’t perform to the team’s standards anymore, and it seems your daughter wanted to take it out on me. I’m terribly sorry that you had to come back from overseas to deal with this. We’ll be recommending counselling for Ann, she must be _so_ distraught after what happened to Suzui. We were all _so worried_ wh--”

“Shut the _FUCK_ up!”

Ryuji’s hand slammed into the wall beside the door, thankfully silencing Kamoshida for the moment. Ann stood frozen while he continued. “The way you talk makes me goddamn _sick_ , you creep! What makes you think you can just do whatever you want to fuckin’ high school kids, huh!?”

Kamoshida sighed. “Oh, Sakamoto. Do we need to have another case of ‘self-defense’?”

Akiza barely thought to put a hand on Ryuji’s shoulder before he growled, taking a step forward. True, they could probably all do something together, but it wouldn’t help. Not _here_ anyways. At that, the giant of a man’s face split into a wicked grin.

“Ah, what a shame. Maybe it would have been your other leg this time. Not like you’re using them for anything, anyways.”

Akiza used her spare hand to slip the phone out from her bag, waggling it confidently, to Kamoshida’s refreshed annoyance. “Luckily for us, we don’t need anything like that, _or_ Ann’s parents. I set my phone to record before we came in, and it backs up to the cloud automatically. We can just go straight to the cops.” Somehow, the anger and exhaustion that had been cycling through nonstop since last night made it even easier to keep her poker face. It was a total bluff, of course; even if she had been recording him, nothing he’d said was concrete, and Akiza wasn’t sure any of it was admissible. But it was better than nothing.

At least, she thought so, until Kamoshida started laughing again.

“Ah, right, the criminal transfer student. I’m sure the police would love to hear from a delinquent with a record. Especially with all those _rumors_ going around, who knows what you did that got you sent here? Though, you’d know all about that, wouldn’t you, Mishima?” The teacher took a step forward, and Akiza fought to stand her ground as he looked over her shoulder. “After all, it was you who leaked the record to the student body.”

Akiza froze.

_What…?_

“Th-that’s… but-- you made me…!” Akiza heard Mishima’s shoes scuffing the floor behind her, stumbling like he was about to fall over. “You gave me no choice! Y-you said I had to, or you’d throw me off the team!”

“Did I now? I don’t remember anything like that. Even if I did, though, it doesn’t change what _you’ve_ done. Following through would mean you buried the transfer student’s reputation just to save your own skin.” Another step forward, and Akiza couldn’t help taking a step back. “And guess what? I found something out yesterday. You left a _very_ interesting detail out of your little leak, Mishima.”

His gaze swiveled to Akiza, and her blood turned to ice. Even Julie’s frothing anger halted, and the rest of the world grew muffled.

_He can’t--_

_No--_

**_Please--_ **

“Your friend here has been hiding something from you,” he said, and every pair of eyes that turned to her pierced her like knives, pinning her between their gazes. Akiza felt _exposed_ , willing her heart to start beating again, to wake up from this horrible nightmare, back at home with her parents where this wasn’t about to happen--

“You see, Principal Kobayakawa shared some information with me about Kurusu, here. It was supposed to be kept under wraps, apparently, but he and I are so close that I guess he couldn’t help but share.”

“Please,” she whispered, feeling tears prick at the corner of her eyes. Did she just let her voice drop? She couldn’t tell, everything was so muffled, everything but his voice--

_No, no, stop, please, I’LL DO ANYTHING--_

“You see, your friend Kurusu here is actually a boy.”

Glass shattered somewhere in Akiza’s heart.

“His parents apparently made a sizable donation to the school, on the condition that he be allowed to attend as a girl. I can only imagine he’s getting off to it, or something like that. I wish I’d known before I offered up the volleyball team. I’m just not into crossdressers, Kurusu. Sorry to disappoint you.”

Akiza stepped back, saved from falling by the wall behind her as her bag thudded to the floor. Something awful crawled out of the hole in her heart, black and clawing, gouging where the glass had already shattered as he turned away from them, waving a hand dismissively.

“Everyone present here will be expelled at the next board meeting.” He took his seat again, returning to his paperwork. “This is what happens when you choose to defy me. Enjoy the last three weeks of your freedom.”

Akiza turned and ran, bolted from the room as his laughter chased her down the hallway. The blackness in her heart clawed higher.

* * *

Feet hit pavement, and Akiza flew out the front door of Shujin hall and down the steps, blowing past people and not able to hear whatever was shouted at her from behind. Only raw, heart-wrenching emotion was washing over her, chasing away everything else while she ran. By the time she’d started to become aware enough of her surroundings again, she was sitting on the ground in an alleyway she didn’t recognize, hugging her legs to her chest and letting the tears flow freely.

This was the end of everything. Everything she’d hoped and dreamed about since she was told she’d be going to Tokyo, midnight prayers for a new start, for a clean slate, for the ability to live without fear. All snatched away in an instant.

Regret tasted like bile in her mouth.

Kamoshida would probably force Mishima to leak her identity to the rest of the school. Ryuji and Ann wouldn’t want anything to do with her, obviously. Morgana wouldn’t trust her with his fate, let alone even the simplest of things after that. Oh god, she’d still have to sit behind Ann in class, wouldn’t she? Stuck behind Ann, the incarnation of everything Akiza could never be, taunting her from two feet in front of her face. Akiza’s grip on her legs tightened, threatening to rip ladders into her tights.

Her tights. Her school uniform.

_Crossdressing freak getting off on this tranny femboy stop it stop it STOP IT--_

Julie’s wings settled over her again, and the sobbing quieted just slightly.

**Do you truly think so little of them, ma chérie?**

Right. Akiza was stuck with Julie in her head now. Couldn’t even be free to cry in peace, apparently.

**Mon coeur, please. Talk to me.**

_Why? I thought you said you were me. Don’t you already know what I’m thinking?_

**Perhaps. But as much as I am you, you are me. And I know that they will not leave you in your hour of need. You made a pact with them, an unshakable bond shared between the downtrodden. Would you not go to them, were your roles reversed?**

Of course she would. In an instant, in half a heartbeat, she would be by Ann’s side, there to lend Ryuji a hand, there to share their burdens. Maybe Julie _was_ right. But, if she was…

...why didn’t it feel that way?

“...iza? Akiza? Where’d you go!?”

The dark-haired girl snapped upright, turning towards the end of the alleyway.

_Ryuji…?_

The thudding of sneakers on asphalt echoed through the dense passageway as the blond rounded the corner, casting his gaze around before his eyes landed on her trembling form, half-hidden in shadow.

“Ann! Mishima! I found her!” He called out over his shoulder before turning back to her, approaching slowly, as if afraid he might scare her off like a skittish animal. “Hey, uh… You kinda ran off.”

She stared at him, unable to form words. Suddenly, Julie’s wings pulled back, leaving her feeling exposed and vulnerable all over again. Desperately, she willed for their return, the way they’d been there only a day ago on the roof while she was alone. They didn’t come.

Ryuji sighed, scratching the back of his head and squatting down in front of her. He let out a hiss as he lowered himself and stretched his calf out.

 _He got hurt because of me,_ thought part of Akiza.

 _He ran through the pain for me,_ thought another part.

“Sorry, I’m, uh… Listen, I know what it’s like for Kamoshida to throw shit like that at ya. Well, I mean, not _exactly_ that, but…” He chewed his lower lip a moment, looking away, before meeting her gaze. “We got worried about you.”

“Oh thank god, Akiza!” Ann dashed towards them as she rounded the corner, dropping to her knees and throwing her arms around the dark-haired girl Akiza’s eyes snapped open, shell-shocked at her touch.

_She’s so warm…_

For just a moment, Ann’s fingers threaded through Akiza’s dark curls, and she felt herself go nearly boneless against the other girl, choked sobs wracking her frame again. Distantly, she was aware of more footsteps as Mishima approached, and the patter of paws indicated Morgana. Ann leaned back after a moment, keeping a tight grip on Akiza’s hand.

“I’m sorry, I… we got so worried after Kamoshida said all that stuff, and you looked so scared, and…” Ann sniffed, having to look away for a moment, and it only occured to Akiza then that she’d forced Ann to go through something like this twice in one day. The blonde tucked a pigtail over one of her shoulders, concern creased across her face. “I’m so sorry he said all that.”

Morgana butted his head against Akiza’s shin, curling up against her foot and staying quiet, but his eyes said plenty anyways. Her free hand found his back, and the gentle rumble of his purrs helped her find some comfort.

“You guys--” She cut herself off with a hacking cough, the sound of her old voice assaulting her eardrums like gunfire as she fought to correct it. “You guys aren’t mad?” There, properly this time.

“What? No! Why would we be?” Ryuji spoke up across from her, and she looked between him, Ann, Morgana, and Mishima, who stood back a bit, refusing to meet her gaze.

“Because I… Because I’m not…” Akiza trailed off as another hoarse cry shook her.

_Just a boy pretending._

Ann and Ryuji shared a glance as Akiza pushed her glasses up onto her forehead, wiping her eyes with a free sleeve. Concealer stained her cuff, laying the dark circles under her eyes bare.

“We’re not mad, Akiza. Just… surprised, I guess? We had no idea…” Ann gave her hand a reassuring squeeze, and Ryuji reached out to take the other one.

“If you wanna talk, we can, like, go somewhere that’s not an alleyway.” To Ryuji’s eternal credit, that comment actually pulled a little choked laugh from Akiza. She tightened her grips on their hands, grounding herself in the sensation of touch, as if she would sink back down without them to pull her up.

“...I know where we can go.”

* * *

They made the train journey in near silence, Akiza refusing to let go of Ann and Ryuji’s hands except to swipe her train pass. Mishima had trailed behind them, remaining silent.

Akiza reluctantly released their hands as they approached Leblanc, and a quick peek through the windows revealed the cafe to be mercifully empty. She took a deep breath, pushing open the door. Sojiro’s gaze swept over to them, brow furrowing.

“What, did you bring your friends over…” His eyes widened as he took in her appearance, disheveled and clearly just done with crying. Akiza’s eyes were still red and puffy, and she was visibly shaking like a leaf. “...Kid, what happened?”

“I…” Her voice was still hoarse, and Sojiro shook his head as he pointed to one of the empty booths.

“Go, sit. I’ll get you kids some coffee and close up.” As the students awkwardly shuffled over, Sojiro laid a hand gently on Akiza’s shoulder. It didn’t feel at all like Kamoshida’s had. Sojiro’s voice was low, dark eyes roiling with worry. “Do I need to expect anyone else?”

Akiza shook her head.

“Alright. Tell me later, okay?”

It took her a few seconds to nod, surprised to find herself actually happy about that prospect.

She sidled into the booth next to Ryuji, across from Mishima and Ann, as Sojiro set four steaming cups of coffee on the table. He locked the door behind him as he left, and a weighty silence fell over the four teenagers.

Akiza’s hand found Ryuji’s almost automatically, twining their fingers together. He blushed at that, bouncing one leg restlessly and looking away. She smiled just a little as she grabbed for her mug, noting that his hand felt just as warm as the coffee.

Mishima was the one to break the silence.

“I’m sorry,” he said, staring intently into his cup with a pained expression. “I shouldn’t have leaked your record. I was so afraid of Kamoshida that I…”

“He made you do it,” Akiza interrupted, finding her voice. “It’s not your fault. He threatened you.”

“It is my fault, though!” Mishima’s own voice nearly cracked at the end of his exclamation, hand tightening around his cup. “I should’ve done something. I just let him push me around like… like…” He trailed off, and Ryuji piped up.

“Listen, man. Y’ain’t gotta kick yourself around like this. We all know the spot he put you in. You’re not a coward for tryin’ to keep yourself safe.” Mishima looked up, meeting Ryuji’s gaze with apologetic eyes. He shook his head and smiled lightly, nodding. Akiza spoke up next.

“You could’ve leaked the… other info about me, but you didn’t.” Akiza still found herself talking awkwardly around the truth. “That shows a lot more about you than the other stuff. That means a lot to me, Mishima.” She gave a grateful smile, and he scratched the back of his head.

“R-right. I just… well, I thought I could be okay if I just put out some of your record…” he deflected some, apparently still uncomfortable with the idea for now. That was fine. He’d figure out who to blame soon, Akiza had no doubts. “...I didn’t want you to have to deal with _that_ too.”

“...I should probably explain that then, huh?” The dark-haired girl bit her lip, taking a deep breath to steady herself, and another sip of coffee. Ryuji squeezed her hand, and Morgana moved from her side to curling up in her lap.

“Not if you don’t want to.” Ann cut in before she could speak. “Don’t feel like you have to do _anything_ just because of what he said. It doesn’t change anything between us.”

Akiza did smile at that. It still wasn’t a full smile, but it was very real. “Thanks, but. I want to anyways. I want you to… understand, I guess.”

She let the rest come after a bit of processing.

“I… wasn’t born a girl. I was a boy for a long time, until the end of elementary school.” The words felt thick and heavy coming out of her, like she was trying to jam a square peg through a round hole. “That’s when I started to get an idea what the awful feeling I had might be. I wanted to be a Sailor Scout for Halloween, and my mom got me a Tuxedo Mask costume instead. I cried for hours, and I had no idea why. After that, I started to figure it out.”

The others looked on in silence, without a shred of judgement. She took another sip, and the warmth made it easier to keep going.

“Lots of days, I would look at myself in the mirror and feel like I’d gotten punched in the gut. I still have days like that sometimes. I didn’t have anybody that I could talk to about something like that. My parents and I weren’t close, even then, and in a backwater country town like the one I grew up in, there wasn’t exactly a therapist or anything I could turn to. I was already getting bullied for being the scrawny kid with glasses, how was I supposed to tell anybody that I secretly wanted to be a girl?”

“God, that’s awful.” Ann’s expression was somewhere between sorrowful and furious.

“The community for… people like me isn’t very big in Japan, at least not compared to some other places. I focused really hard on learning English just so I could talk to other people like me, to find out what they did about it, what I could do to make myself feel better. I found out that there’s, like, medical treatments for this kind of thing. I couldn’t get a doctor’s approval for it without my parents finding out so about a year ago I started buying the medicine secondhand from the internet and doing it myself.” From the corners of her eyes, she saw the others’ faces scrunch up in concern.

“Wait, you were like, self-medicating?” Ryuji’s worry was plain to hear. “Ain't that dangerous? People get super sick doing that with vitamin supplements and stuff.”

Akiza laughed bitterly. “Not for these meds, no. I don’t have any of the conditions that make them risky. Besides, it’s either this or stop looking at myself in mirrors.” She gestured to herself. “They’re how I look like this. Girlish enough to pass at a glance. Sometimes the meds make me sick if I mess the doses up, but it’s never that bad.”

“So, what, there’s just guides on the internet for how to do this?” Mishima spoke up, more curious than outright skeptical.

“Sorta,” she answered. “Lots of people do it, so I got some advice from the internet. I had it mostly figured out within a couple months. It’s slow going, but… they make me feel safer in my own skin.”

There was a pause, full of quiet and laced with awkward tension. Akiza didn’t blame them. What were you supposed to say to something like this?

“So, when you moved to Tokyo… Shujin let you enroll as a girl?” Ryuji was the one to break the silence.

“Yeah. My parents found my meds and I had to come out to them right before I got arrested. They paid Shujin a bunch of money to let me come as a girl so I wouldn’t make a fuss.” She took another sip of coffee.  _ God, this needs cream. _ “Not the most loving of parting gifts, but I’ll take it.” She smiled bitterly and the silence returned, albeit more comfortably this time, as she added some milk and sweetness to her drink.

“Thanks.” Ann said, prompting her to look back up. “For telling us, I mean. It must have been scary.” After the thoughts she’d had in the alley, and everything Ann had said so far, Akiza didn’t expect to be able to meet Ann’s gaze. Crystal blue pierced her in a way she didn’t know how to explain, and filled her with an emotion that was unfamiliar; unparseable and strangely raw. All she knew for sure is that, whatever it was, she preferred it vastly over the emptiness that had been there before. Ann pressed a hand across her heart. “I don’t know if I understand it all, not the way you do, but I want to be here for you.”

“Yeah, that goes for me too.” Ryuji chimed in, and Mishima echoed the sentiment. Even Morgana let out an agreeable meow, nuzzling his head against her stomach.

“You… you’re okay with it? You still want to be friends?”

“Well, duh! Of course!” Ryuji grinned, withdrawing his hand from hers and throwing his arm across her shoulders. “We got a job to do, and there’s no way we’d just drop ya like that. You’re our friend.” His expression changed on a dime, to a familiar sort of concern. “But, ya _gotta_ promise you’ll be careful with the meds.”

Ann nodded, and Mishima, after a pause, followed suit, allowing himself a smile too.

_Your friends. **My** friends._

_They know, and they don’t care. They still like me._

Akiza let out a sharp laugh, pulling her glasses off. Her tears started to flow, and Ryuji panicked briefly.

“Oh shit, uh, are you okay, did I do somethin’ wrong?” His arm retreated, but Akiza only started to laugh harder, leaning against him and shaking her head. He blushed again as she rested her head on his shoulder.

“No, never. I’m just…” She sniffed, wiping her eyes with a smile. “I’m just glad I met you guys.”

* * *

Mishima had been the first to leave, excusing himself and leaving a few yen on the table for the coffee that he didn’t drink. Akiza and the others had discussed some more about their mission, now that they had a hard time limit of three weeks. Today had been a wash, and they decided to take Saturday off as well, to rest and recuperate from the day’s ordeals. They’d parted ways after a conversation about finding a doctor, and a promise from Akiza to follow through.

Sojiro, seeing how drained Akiza looked, didn’t press her yet, instead allowing her to take a much-needed shower before she returned to the attic. Morgana sat perched atop the work desk, watching as Akiza brushed her hair before bed.

“Hey.” His voice was softer than she was used to hearing. “I, um. I didn’t speak up earlier because I didn’t want any of you to respond to me in front of Mishima, but I’m in the same boat as Ann and Ryuji.” His tail swished with uncertainty, and Akiza gave a little half-smile.

“It’s okay, I got the message. It means just as much from you as it does from the others.” Akiza truly meant that; despite his feline form, Morgana was just as much a person as any of them, even with his seeming inexperience with humans. “I’m surprised you didn’t pick up on it earlier, to be honest.” He cocked his head at that, hopping down from the desk and trotting over to the bed.

“I don’t know how I could have,” he began. “I don’t really get how humans work in a lot of areas. Anything that might have given you away, I probably thought was normal for a human girl.”

That… was an interesting thought. Morgana not being familiar with humans was one thing, but being broadly unfamiliar with _gender as a concept_ wasn’t something Akiza had expected. “I suppose that makes sense. All the same, thanks for not blowing my cover.” She smirked and set the brush down, pulling out her phone to text Ann.

> _'Hey, you left a hair clip here_  
>  _> img_4-15-2018 sent._  
>  _I can give it back in homeroom tomorrow.'_  
> 

“Of course!” Morgana said, scooching over to allow Akiza to climb into bed. “I’d never do something to jeopardize our partnership!” He practically meowed the end of that sentence, puffing up his chest in a frankly adorable manner. Akiza giggled and gave him a scratch between the ears, earning a purr as her phone chimed.

> _'ohhh, i was wondering where that went lmao_  
>  _i have a ton of those, dont worry about it'_

Akiza toyed with the thing, flipping the little red clip between her fingers. She set it aside for the moment, tapping out another message.

> _'Ok, sure. Have you heard anything about Suzui yet?'_
> 
> _'shes stable, they treated her for shock and dehydration when she got there_  
>  _she hasnt been deemed “not a suicide risk” yet, but they let her keep her phone_  
>  _so weve been texting_  
>  _shell be fine_  
>  _not sure when theyre gonna let her out though_  
>  _gonna stop by after school'_

A tired smile crossed Akiza’s face. Knowing that Shiho would be okay, after being so close to the brink… well. It was a feeling Akiza knew.

> _'Say hi to her for me!_  
>  _I’m gonna hit up a doctor tomorrow for supplies, so i'll keep you two posted. might ask about an actual prescription for hormones too, we'll see'_
> 
> _'YES OMG GOOD LUCK <3_  
>  _ok i gotta get to bed, im dead after today_  
>  _remember me n ryuji r here if u need us for anythng at all'_
> 
> _'Yeah, I’ll let you know_  
>  _Gnight <3'_

With a flick of her finger, Akiza closed the messaging app, gaze drawn back to the hair clip beside her. Something about it kept pulling at her attention. She reached over to it, opening up the front-facing camera on her phone. It was a bit awkward with one hand, not really knowing the intricacies of the thing, but after a minute of finagling she managed to get it to sit right, bangs pinned back and out of her face.

Her face, which she’d always thought of as not soft enough, too masculine, too _handsome_. The face that she wore glasses to conceal, even though she had perfectly good contact lenses. The face that she’d grown her bangs out to hide. And here it was, unobscured by glasses or makeup or hair.

A little flicker of a smile crossed Akiza’s lips as one hand traced across her cheekbone.

Maybe it wasn’t quite so bad after all.

With a click, she locked her phone, setting it down and turning out the light.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **CW: Kamoshida-typical, suicidal ideation, outing, misgendering, panic attacks, severe dysphoria**
> 
> So, this chapter is a lot.
> 
> The second half of this chapter, from the confrontation on, was goddamn harrowing to write. Kamoshida the maniacal supervillain king is very different from Kamoshida the pedophile. The subsequent scenes were similarly rough but ultimately cathartic, and I hope that resonates with yall as well. <3
> 
> \- **Rabbit**
> 
> First off, thanks again to [Turandot](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LostOzian/pseuds/Turandot) for helping beta this chapter.
> 
> Writing this really hit different from even reading it in drafts, when Rabbit was working on the parts I wasn't. Every step of the way hit a different spot for me, but we pushed through to make it as good as we could. That Happy Ending tag is there for a reason. Despite what I've been through myself, I feel sort of unqualified to say so, but I hope everyone's coping out there right now.
> 
> Let us know if you think anything else needed to be tagged.
> 
> \- **Audible**
> 
> Thank you for reading.


	8. Almost (Sweet Music)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW: No content warnings today.  
> Today's Chapter Title: [Almost (Sweet Music)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mN3Al9UvTnY)

_4/16_

In the morning, Akiza took her time heading down the stairs. At the now typical spot, there was a cup of coffee and a plate of curry waiting. The TV was on at low volume, and Sojiro was washing dishes in the back. Carefully, she padded over and sat down. The gentle creak got Sojiro to stop what he was doing, but only for a moment before everything resumed. Akiza could feel every little scrape her fork made digging through the curry.

_He still made breakfast this morning. He won’t be mad that something happened… right?_

Placing her dish in the sink, Akiza spoke up, trying to keep a level tone.

“Tonight. I’ll… fill you in on everything that happened. I-is that alright?”

Sojiro looked over, and gave a brusque nod. “Alright. Don’t force yourself. Take care at school, and stay out of trouble.”

Akiza let out a breath. “I will. Thanks.”

“Hm.” And like that, he went back to work.

Stepping outside, Akiza couldn’t help holding her bag at her side and reaching over to pet Morgana. It was that simple. No trouble just because she’d shown up upset. Sojiro hadn’t even said anything about closing down early.

The cat meowed. “You’ve gotta be going soon, right? Things will get a little easier when you meet up with the other two.”

“Yeah, they will.” A relieved little smile pricked at the corners of her mouth. “It’s a little easier with you here too.”

He butted his head against her palm. “That’s what I’m here for.”

* * *

Shujin was, bizarrely, about the same as the previous few days had been. There were some whispers about Akiza’s sudden run the previous day, but most were still centered around her supposed crimes, the list of which grew more outlandish by the day (arms trafficking was the new one, apparently).

Morgana had been right, too. Things did get a little easier the moment she laid eyes on Ryuji and Ann waiting for her at the Shibuya station. The two had stuck to her like glue at every opportunity from then on, all the way through morning classes.

“Oh, you’re wearin’ your hair outta your face,” Ryuji said when he caught sight of the clip in her hair. “It looks, uh, nice. Makes your eyes stand out.” He’d looked away quickly after, but Akiza had been unable to keep the grin off her face on the train ride. Ann shared a conspiratorial wink with her as the blond tried very hard not to make eye contact afterwards.

Shortly before lunch, Akiza heard her phone buzz faintly from within her desk.

“It’s from Haru,” whispered Morgana, curled up alongside it. Somehow, he’d gone unnoticed by her classmates so far. Akiza scrambled for the phone as quickly as she dared without alerting the teacher, discreetly swiping it open.

> _‘good morning, akiza-chan! this is haru!_  
>  _i apologize for not texting since we met on wednesday, i had some family matters that required my attention_  
>  _i will be on the roof for lunch today, if you would like to join me?’_

Akiza fought to keep the smile off her face, and _mostly_ succeeded.

> _‘Good morning! It’s fine, I had some stuff going on as well._  
>  _Yeah, I’d really like that.’_

A thought occurred to Akiza, and she bit her lip as she considered.

_...Fuck it, it’s gone well so far._

> _‘I actually have something I’d like to tell you about, so that works out great!_  
>  _Meet you on the roof in 10 mins?’_

The response came a moment later.

> _‘looking forward to it! <3’_

Oh no. A heart emoji. Oh god. What did that mean? Was that normal for girls to text each other? She and Ann had exchanged them last night, but those were extenuating circumstances and--

Her thoughts were interrupted by the lunch bell’s soft chime. Akiza hastily crammed her notebooks and Morgana into her bag, with a thud from the former and a brief, startled yowl from the latter. She explained to Ann that she had to take a phone call before speed-walking out of the room.

...Okay, Julie was _definitely_ snickering that time.

* * *

Pushing beyond the first-years on the floor above, Akiza found the door to the roof propped open with a chair. Beyond, she could see Haru, crouching by the now-uncovered planter boxes that occupied a section of the roof.

“...and don’t you worry, I made sure to add plenty of nitrogen supplements to the soil mix this time, so you won’t have to worry about-- oh!” Haru straightened up quickly, hands clasped in front of her. “I-I’m sorry, I didn’t see you come up! I-I was just, um, talking. To… to my soybeans.” Oh lord, Haru looked _mortified_.

“I-it’s fine!” Akiza blurted out an assurance, trying desperately not to make Haru feel embarrassed. “D-don’t worry about it! I talk to Morgana all the time!”

There was a moment of silence between them, and for that moment, Akiza wished a Shadow would crawl out of the floor and end her right then. That is, until Haru started giggling, one hand held demurely in front of her mouth.

“I’m sorry, I don’t mean to laugh at you.” She made her way over to one of the many desks strewn about, pulling up a chair and withdrawing a primly-wrapped bento from her bag. “It seems we both have our own little habits.”

Akiza followed suit, sitting opposite the other girl and taking out her own food. Morgana hopped out as well, fixing her with a legendary stink-eye for the earlier scramble, before promptly submitting to a cooing Haru’s scritches. The dark-haired girl allowed herself a moment of indulgence, just observing the soft curves of Haru’s cheeks as she played with a purring Morgana.

“Guess so.” Akiza offered. “I don’t think it’s weird though.” Her own lunch had been bought from the school store. The yakisoba wasn’t as good as Sojiro’s curry, but eating the same dish three times a day probably wasn’t the best meal plan.

_I have to tell her soon._

“Is it true, what they say about how talking to plants makes them grow stronger?” Akiza knew it was coming. Of course she did. She’d get there. When it felt right.

Haru giggled, settling back into petting Morgana with one hand while opening her lunch with the other. “Oh, I don’t know if I believe all that. I’ve found that you can make most things work with the right soil blend and environmental conditions.”

_Today. Here. Now? Is now the time? No, not yet._

“You mix your own soil? I’ve never heard of someone doing that.”

Haru crossed her legs, fluffy curls bouncing just a tad while she held onto a bite. “I do! I was actually able to grow a few tropical fruits on my balcony at home by making my own blends, which goes to show how important the soil is.”

_Soon. Now? No, she’s still talking about soil._

Akiza slung herself over the back of the chair, trying to force herself to relax into the moment in spite of the imaginary-but-still-very-present weight crushing her ribcage flat.. The two chatted about gardening for a bit, Haru cheerfully rattling off trivia at Akiza, who was delighted to listen. She leaned forward just a little as they picked away at their lunches, trying to force her heartbeat to slow back to its normal cadence..

Then the conversation took its inevitable turn.

“You mentioned that you had something to talk about, Akiza-chan? What was it?” Haru set her empty bento aside, everything neatly packed up.

_Shit. Now, I guess._

Akiza took a deep breath, steadying up and letting it out slowly.

_I’ve got people in my corner now. It’s fine. I can do this. I can do this._

She opened her mouth.

“I…”

_...can’t do this._

“I wanted to… address the rumors that you’ve heard about me.” Akiza cursed herself, feeling all her confidence collapse like a deflating balloon, leaving her back in that anxious state that she’d felt until the previous night, like the sword of Damocles dangling over her, always waiting for the other shoe to drop. Why couldn’t she summon up the willpower? She was supposed to be able to tell people now, right?

Haru simply nodded quietly, understandingly.

Another breath to steady herself, and Akiza told the story again. Woman in danger, drunk man, arrest, trial. Tokyo.

She caught sight of Haru bunching up the hem of her sweater as the story went on, growing nearly white-knuckled by the end. Her voice, however, did not betray whatever anger she might have felt.

“I’m so sorry, Akiza-chan. That’s… that’s horrible.” Haru’s response was barely a whisper at first, fingers dragging up the lower body of her sweater. The reaction gave Akiza the awful, crawling feeling that Haru knew exactly what the scene might have looked like.

There was a pause then, where Akiza had enough time to worry she’d said too much, right before one of Haru’s hands curled into a fist, and the other settled across her heart. “It might be presumptive of me to say so, but I believe you did the right thing. That woman might not have expressed as much, but I will. Thank you, for doing something.”

Haru’s brown eyes set hard against her own. A strange feeling caught in her chest, burgeoning between gratitude and insecurity, and Akiza found herself squeezing her wrist again, staring at the desk.

“It’s… well, it got me here. Despite all the ‘how’, I’m actually happier here, if I’m being honest.”

Haru hummed and gave a small, slow nod. “I understand. Home isn’t always where you’re most comfortable.”

The other girl _couldn’t_ have known, of course, that she’d never be allowed back home, no matter how uncomfortable it might have been. The sentiment was sincere, though, and Haru’s own eyes turned to the desk as well, biting her lower lip just slightly. The girl’s hand reached slowly across the desk, and when Akiza didn’t move, covered her own. The contact wasn’t nearly as nerve-wracking as she’d expected.

Haru’s hand was firm, and maybe it was silly to have thought it could be any other way. There weren’t any calluses, but, it was _strong_ , and there, in a way that would be impossible to define. Idly, Akiza noted it was the hand Haru had held over her heart.

“Yeah,” the dark-haired girl said after a moment. “It’s nice to meet someone who understands.”

Akiza drew in a breath. The instinct in her heart was to give herself contact for only as long as she could take before the little ache in her chest became a threat. But then, she deserved something like this, didn’t she? She’d done enough, bent over backwards for enough people in her life, just to make sure she drew as little attention as possible.

She could take… just a little attention. Couldn’t she?

Akiza turned her hand over, and took Haru’s in her own, not caring so much about the small heat on her face.

“...Thanks.”

Haru’s expression brightened considerably, and she smiled with a little tilt of her head that Akiza was sure would be the death of her. “Any time.”

The two pulled away, and Akiza, dazedly, checked the time. Lunch would be over soon, and she still had an entire thermos of Leblanc coffee to work through. Ah, well, as dangerous as downing the entire thing after _that_ would probably be, she’d still need something to help her later in the day. Popping it open and going to take a sip, her thoughts were interrupted by Haru.

“That smells… _incredible_. Where is that coffee from?” The brown-eyed girl was leaning forward some.

“Oh, it’s… from a cafe I live above.” Akiza managed. She went to take a sip again, and paused, quirking an eyebrow at the other girl. “Do you want some?” By the way Haru drew herself up, she could only assume the answer was yes.

“O-oh!” The other girl folded her hands. “Well, I wouldn’t want to impose--”

“No, no, it’s fine, really! I get it all the time, and I can always get some more, so--” Acting before Haru could refuse again, Akiza poured some into the thermos’ cap, and slid it across the desk. “Here.”

Haru steadied herself, then took the cup in both hands, holding it close and taking a deep breath of the scent with her eyes closed. The contented smile on her face as she took a sip brought Akiza’s ache to another level.

“This is _amazing_ , Akiza-chan!” Haru’s eyes popped open with a little gasp before she rocked in the seat, gesturing slightly with her free hand. “The flavor is so _complex_. The bitterness is still present, but without being overwhelming, it’s nutty and a little fruity and _perfect_. I…” she cleared her throat. “If you bring more of this next week, would you mind sharing it again?”

Akiza blinked. “Oh. Um, sure.” She blinked again, and managed to be a little firmer. “Yes, I’d like that a lot.”

“I’m glad to hear that.” Haru stood up, and started to gather her things. The bell rang, and Akiza did the same.

The other girl’s curls bounced as she moved back and forth, trying to wrap up something with the plants she’d been busy with earlier. Akiza paused at the exit, and watched a little longer before leaving. Alone on the staircase, she sighed.

“Ohhh Morgana, we’re really in it now.”

“What do you mean _we_? What are you even talking about?”

Morgana’s confusion didn’t lessen as she refused to answer.

* * *

Ann watched Akiza amble back into the classroom, and quickly shot a text to Ryuji.

> _‘shes got that look on her face_  
>  _she went to the roof for a phone call but i think she was meeting that girl again_  
>  _any idea who it could be?’_
> 
> _‘ ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ ’_

Ann huffed.

* * *

Haru looked up from the plants she’d been tending with sweat on her brow and dirt caking her fingers. School might have been over, but that didn’t mean her work was. Inviting Akiza-chan up for lunch meant pushing maintenance back, but it was always worth it to extend a helping hand where she could.

Today, that hand had even been taken.

The horizon was dyed a beautiful shade of orange, streaks of light tinting the puffy clouds in shades of red and yellow. She grabbed a rag, closed her eyes, and ran it over her face before beginning to press and dig the dirt out from under her nails.

_Appearances, appearances._

The atmosphere turned - as it often did when she prepared to leave - strangely lonely. Ever since her rooftop garden had been approved, the idea of leaving the space behind seemed to pull on her. The plants wouldn’t wither, so long as she returned regularly, so that wasn’t it. It’s not as if she’d ever had any help before either. It was only ever her up here.

_And yet…_

_And yet what?_

Brow knit tight, Haru exhaled, grabbing at her bag and falling uncivilly into a seat. There were days where it felt like the answer was on the tip of her tongue, like she was always only one step away from understanding something greater. It was always just out of reach, but… it also felt a little closer every time she picked up a trowel. Every time she looked down and her arms had been stained in a way no one at a company event would ever approve of. Every time the sweat slipped down her back after carrying mulch up the stairs.

Haru swiped open her phone, needing a way to relax before taking on anything else. The day was hardly over; it was only her _hope_ that no one would be waiting for her when she got home. The core of that thought left a bitter mark on her spirit, so she opened an album that always seemed to help. Two years of plant progress photos flew across the screen, bridging time and experience as day after day, she kept working. Slowly the tension left her, and Haru felt her expression return to neutral.

Sometimes, a photo with herself slipped by. Each one was a time she’d been so happy, she wanted to be sure to remember it. For every massive tomato in one hand, there was another that was just a growing stem being pointed to. Sometimes, it was enough to simply know that a difficult plant was finally taking.

Haru slumped in her chair, and opened her text chain with Akiza.

Earlier, knowing the other girl wanted to share something had made her nervous. Hoping for the best was one thing, but knowing what had happened on this rooftop only a day ago made that harder. And it’s not like what Akiza _had_ chosen to share was much better, but at least the baseless arrest was something Haru couldn’t have changed. Offering as much as a “thank you” and some small comforts was clearly more than Akiza had even expected, and that made her heart hurt.

There were too many times where Sugimura had said such heinous things, and she _knew_ the people passing by had heard. They noticed, they knew, but they only ever offered sympathetic looks. For the longest time that made her furious, until one day someone _did_ stop to talk to her. They followed behind and spoke quickly and quietly as soon as Sugiumura left, asking if she needed help. As stunned as she’d been, she could still understand the sinking feeling that came immediately after.

What _could_ they do?

It was more complicated than driving her somewhere else, wasn’t it? A stranger couldn’t null the arranged marriage. They couldn’t fix her father’s obsession. If she left with them, the relief would only be temporary, and if _anyone_ got into trouble, it was far more likely to be the stranger than her.

It made her reconsider the way strangers acted. And for only a moment, Akiza’s story did too.

…But then…

She wouldn’t have even heard Akiza’s story if she hadn’t reached out to a panicked stranger in the halls. And she wouldn’t have been able to taste that coffee. And she wouldn’t have had company today.

Haru began to type to Akiza, and then sent. It felt like picking up a trowel.

> _‘actually. do you think you could take me to the cafe?_  
>  _the one that you mentioned earlier. perhaps some time next week? ’_

Even if it changed nothing, some actions were worth taking just because they could be. Even if it could never fix the life she led at home, she would take that comfort where she could. The two of them deserved more than silence alone. Haru stood up, and felt her face melt into a relieved smile as Akiza’s response bubble appeared right away.

* * *

Akiza stared at the text she’d just received. Morgana meowed something in her ear, but she was laser-focused on Haru’s question.

_She just wants to hang out. Relax. Calm down._

Her thumbs moved, slowly and deliberately, erasing and re-typing slight variations on the same three sentences over and over before she landed on a reply that sounded right.

> _‘Sure! My schedule’s a little busy right now but i’ll know when i’m free by monday. i’ll let you know when i know!_  
>  _Train’s here, gotta go. Talk to you later! <3_

Heart hammering in her chest, giddy grin on her face, she stumbled onto the subway.

* * *

Akiza stood in front of the Takemi Medical Clinic, and decided that things were moving much faster than she would’ve liked. Not the Haru part, that was probably pretty great, but maybe that too?

Yesterday, after Mishima had left, she’d asked Ryuji and Ann to stay in the room with her while she looked for endocrinologists that would see her. There was a place in Yongen-Jaya, right near Leblanc, that had it listed in one of the few reviews, so it was better than nothing. Plus, Sojiro had offhandedly mentioned something about the doctor being “shady,” so it wasn’t impossible that she could also get some medicine for the Palace at the same time. Ann and Ryuji were excited for her at finding an endocrinologist, of course, but Akiza wasn’t sure what she was feeling.

Relief? Joy? Nervousness? Some brand-new emotion, felt only by people who suddenly realized that the life-changing appointment they’d wanted most of their lives was now less than twenty four hours away? There was no way for her to be sure, so naturally she’d put on a smile and celebrated with them, bidding farewell to the blondes with full-bodied hugs (and _god_ it felt nice to be hugged).

And now she stood in front of the Takemi Medical Clinic, phone clutched in one hand with her bag in the other, absent one Morgana. He’d been offended when she brought up the issue of cleanliness in a doctor’s office, but acquiesced after some explaining, instead staying home and experimenting with the best nap locations in the attic. The door was ordinary and imposing all at once.

_Okay, deep breath. One. Two, three-- **go.**_

The waiting room was… mostly normal. _Of course it is,_ she thought. _Why wouldn’t it be?_ It was small, only about five seats, featuring an eye catching clock with a shattered face. The window just beneath had suffered a similar fate, cracked pane plastered over with tape and flyers. The woman behind the counter lounged disinterestedly, white coat contrasting with the black-and-teal spiderweb-patterned dress she wore. She looked up as Akiza entered, the decorative chains on her spiked necklace jingling just a bit.

“Can I help you?”

“I have an appointment,” came Akiza’s automatic reply. She gave her name, and the woman quickly checked something Akiza couldn’t see.

“Ah, right. Follow me to the exam room, we can get started right away.” She stood up from her desk, vanishing around the corner before opening the other door in the waiting room, beckoning Akiza further in. She obliged, sitting down on the exam bed as the woman lowered herself into the office chair, crossing her legs (good _god_ , her heels!) and pulling up a clipboard.

“My name is Tae Takemi, I’ll be your doctor today. This is your first visit, so we’re gonna start with some general stuff, okay?” Somehow, Akiza hadn’t been expecting the woman’s tone to be so even, the goth getup perhaps suggesting something more abrasive. Instead, she patiently ran Akiza through a basic physical, taking her temperature, height, weight, blood pressure, and all the other standard checks. The dark-haired girl was almost relaxed by the end, having briefly forgotten what she’d come here for, until she sat back down on the bed and Takemi reminded her.

“So, formalities are out of the way. What are you here for?” The doctor picked up her clipboard again, placing it on her lap and looking levelly at Akiza.

“I’ve been having trouble sleeping, and it’s starting to affect my school performance.” The lie flowed easily. “I get these aches and pains sometimes, and it makes it hard to stay asleep. I was hoping you’d have some painkillers better than the generic stuff.

Takemi clicked her tongue, one eyebrow arched.

“That so?” She stood from her chair, moving to the door and clicking the lock shut.

_Uh._

“So, what, someone in the neighborhood told you I’m sketchy, and now you want me to sell you painkillers.” Her gaze was… not _harsh_ exactly, but certainly hard. It cut through her, somehow, leaving her feeling pinned down in the exact way she hated.

“I’m not lying,” Akiza stated. “My entrance exams will be coming up soon, and I can’t afford to do poorly.”

“I’m not as dumb as I look, you know. All I get these days are patients with ulterior motives.” She set her mouth into a hard line for a moment, then sighed, looking down. “...Fine. I’ll prescribe you some painkillers. But nothing heavy-duty. Don’t need kids turning into junkies because of me.”

Akiza breathed a silent sigh of relief. Having reliable access to medicine would take _so much_ healing strain off Morgana and Ann. Even had everything else failed today, at least she’d secured that.

Meanwhile, her other reason for visiting sat like a stone in her throat.

_Say it, you idiot!_

“There’s something else,” she blurted, the impending threat of honesty stripping back the confidence of her earlier lie. Takemi arched her eyebrow imperiously again, a silent question.

_Breathe._

“I… I want an estrogen prescription. And testosterone blockers.”

She was not prepared for Takemi to counter with a quick “What for?” that stopped Akiza in her tracks.

_God, okay. She’s a doctor. She has to know one way or the other._

“I’m… I’m trans. A trans girl. I read a review on your clinic that said you can provide hormones. I’m new in the city, and I need a prescription.”

Something in Takemi’s gaze softened, just slightly, as Akiza explained, and the doctor leaned back in her chair.

“I see. Wonder who’s writing that kind of stuff on the internet.” There was a brief jolt of panic through Akiza’s system, wondering if the review had been wrong, before Takemi continued. “We can get that going today, if you’re feeling up for having some blood drawn.” Akiza nodded fervently, almost breathless, as Takemi took some more notes down. “Who was your prior endocrinologist?”

 _Ah,_ Akiza thought. _Fuck._

“I, um.” Her voice came out raspy, painful in how she felt it threaten to dip back into its old register. She cleared her throat, trying to re-wrangle her vocal cords. Doctors were supposed to be non-judgmental, right? Self-medding wasn’t _illegal_ , just frowned upon. And ill-advised. And dangerous. “I-I didn’t have one. I was, um. Doing it myself.”

Takemi’s eyebrows perked just slightly, in surprise this time, and Akiza felt her stomach drop. The doctor must have seen it on her face, because she quickly spoke up. “Hey, relax. You’re not the first trans kid who’s ever self-medicated.” Her lips tilted into a small smile as she held her pen up, tapping it gently against her own collarbone.

Akiza’s brain spun in circles. “You-?” She choked off her own question, but Takemi understood, nodding.

“Yeah. Nine years HRT, two years post-op. Not that I make a habit of sharing my history around, but…” She shrugged. “I know how hard it is to feel like you’re the only one.”

It wasn’t until that moment that Akiza realized Takemi was right. Some irrational part of her had been made to feel like she was the only person in the universe to ever be trans and lonely. She found herself breaking into a smile, letting out an incredulous laugh. “I’m sorry, I just-- You’re the first I’ve met in real life. Or at least, the first one I knew about.” One wing on her shoulder. Not sheltering, just supporting, reminding her of its presence.

Takemi stood with a smile, this one a bit softer than her previous wry smirks, pulling a basket of tools down from a high shelf. “People like us have a hard time finding a place to belong. All the more important that we stick together whenever we find each other. Tell me about your dosing while I get the blood draw ready.”

Akiza rattled off her regimen, long since committed to memory, already shedding her uniform jacket and rolling up her sleeve. She’d made an effort to keep her dosage reasonable, soberly resisting the urge to give herself as much of the stuff as she could handle. Not that she hadn’t often had to remind herself not to.

They chatted a bit more as Takemi drew her blood, about transition goals and side effects. Akiza had done her research thoroughly, of course, but having an actual professional to bounce questions off of made all the difference. Especially with someone she could be comfortable with.

“So, um,” she asked after a moment, drawing her sleeve back down. “When should I come back for the results?”

“Just wait here for a few minutes.” The older woman drew back a curtain at the end of the room, revealing a bench of equipment Akiza didn’t recognize. “I can do it right now.”

Akiza didn’t presume to be a medical professional, of course, but the equipment in this room alone looked _excessive_ for a general practitioner. External labs usually handled blood tests and things of that nature, right? So what was all this equipment for?

Takemi spoke up, leaning against a cabinet while one of the machines did _something_ to her blood. “Another thing. You can fix sleep habits and hormones with pills, but not much else. How’s your support network? You out to anyone?”

“A couple friends, and my guardian.” Akiza folded her hands in her lap, feeling the reality of that statement sink in for what must have been the tenth time at that point. _They know, and they’re still here._ “They’re good, I trust them. New to the whole ‘trans’ thing, but supportive.” She paused for a second, smile tilting her lips. “Does my cat count?”

Takemi chuckled, turning back to the table. “I’ll allow it. Good to hear you’ve got people in your corner.” Akiza’s fingers lightly brushed the hair clip holding her bangs over.

“Yeah,” she said with a warmer smile. “It is.”

* * *

> _‘She gave me FKING PROGESTERONE!!!!!!’_
> 
> _‘CONGRATS!! unless thats bad, in which case im sorry’_
> 
> _‘Lmao no, its really good. Progesterone is like, the really good shit’_
> 
> _‘RAD that effin whips nice job’_

Akiza smiled at her phone as she left Takemi’s office.

* * *

The stream of hot water shut off with a click. Akiza fumbled for the towel on the sink, and started to blow dry her hair. As she fluffed her dark curls, she glanced at the closed door to the bathroom over and over again.

Beyond that door sat Sojiro, and having to truly confront what had happened yesterday. The resolution had been mostly good, for now, but…

_Oh, shit, wait a second._

She couldn’t tell him the whole truth! Sojiro knowing that Kamoshida was planning to expel her would destroy her probation. It wouldn’t come to that, of course, but altering the story would definitely make things easier. The thought stung, and dug at her chest in a way not dissimilar to how it had earlier on the rooftop. Lying to people used to be a lot easier, before she’d moved to Tokyo. It was a weird feeling, but… she could worry about that later.

As expected, Sojiro was reading something in his usual chair. He glanced up as Akiza emerged from the bathroom, seeming surprised for a second before shaking his head. Every part of her fidgeting posture made it clear now was the time to talk. With a creaking sort of motion, he set aside the book and gestured to the chair next to him. “Take a seat, kid.”

The other, older looking chair was surprisingly plush. It felt well-worn, and didn’t look like much of the other furniture.

_Okay. Deep breath… Relax. Think about how you want to phrase it._

“I… okay, I should start from the beginning of the day.” She scratched behind her head, pulling her glasses off. Without the clip on, her bangs fell down a bit. “Ann, the girl who came to Leblanc with me yesterday… We were worried about one of her friends. We were looking for her on Friday morning, but couldn’t find her. Then, we saw her on the roof, about to jump.”

Sojiro’s brow furrowed deeply at that. The old man looked as though he was about to speak up, but instead cleared his throat and nodded for her to continue.

“She didn’t jump. Ann got to her first, talked her down, and she got taken to the hospital for shock. It turned out that Ann’s friend was…” _Fuck,_ the word was thorny and painful in her throat. “One of the athletes had forced himself onto her.”

Sojiro sucked his bottom lip between his teeth, one foot tapping, as if he was barely holding back whatever he wanted to say.

“Ann went to confront her friend’s attacker, and Ryuji-- the blond boy-- and I found out from the blue-haired boy, Mishima, who it was, so we ran after her. It turned out that… the attacker - he knew about me. He told them…” _Keep it together. He already knows. He’s got you._ She let out a breath, steadying herself. “He told them I’m trans. I p-panicked, and ran, and they came to find me, and we came to Leblanc to talk about it.” Akiza leaned back, sinking into the cushion behind her, letting the weight start to lift off her shoulders.

The man next to her broke his gaze, looking down at his shoes for the moment and pinching the bridge of his nose. “I’m sorry, kid,” he said after a long moment. “Can’t imagine what that’s like. How’re you holding up?”

“Honestly? Pretty good, all things considered.” Some part of Akiza still couldn’t believe everything that had unfolded, and especially not that it had ended the way it did. “I explained everything to them after you left, and they’re supportive. The athlete can’t get in trouble, the school is protecting him because he boosts their prestige.”

“Kid’s probably from money. Pisses me off, hearin’ about people getting away with awful things like that.” He sighed wearily, settling back into his chair. “That’s just how it goes, sometimes.”

Akiza bit her lip, thinking, _Not this time. Not for long._ “Ann’s friend is doing okay, she’s still in the hospital for the weekend, but her condition is improving. So, yeah.” She blew out a sigh, and found a grin cracking her lips apart as she looked over at Sojiro again. “It’s been a weird first week.”

The old man matched her grin with a sharp chuckle, low and gravelly. “You’re way better at takin’ things in stride than I was at your age. Glad you’re holding up alright. You’ve got good friends, if they’re sticking by you.”

Akiza smiled, toying with a lock of her hair. “Yeah, I guess I do.”

He cleared his throat, nudging his glasses back up to the top of his nose. “Thanks for letting me know. You need to stop sticking your nose into this, though.” His gaze had turned a little harder, but without too much iron behind it. The same sense of stern-but-maybe-friendly that she’d gotten when they’d first met. “You should be thinking about your record first and foremost. The last thing you need is these ‘supportive friends’ getting you in trouble.”

_Just deal with it. Soon this’ll all be over._

“I understand. I’ll be careful.” He nodded again, and there was a moment of silence between them. It stretched out while Akiza felt herself sinking into the old plush chair, just the background hum of the evening news and nothing else. It felt like… something she’d forgotten. Working up the courage, Akiza spoke again.

“Hey, uh, could I ask a favor?”

“What do you need?” Sojiro’s reply was immediate, and it made Akiza’s heart swell.

“I was wondering if… if it wouldn’t be too much trouble, could you teach me how to make coffee? Like, _good_ coffee?” She sat up a bit, Haru’s texts fresh on her mind. Sojiro blinked owlishly at her for a moment, before humming. The old man stroked his beard, and cracked a sly grin.

“Hmm, maybe. I _could_ use a hand around the cafe, anyways. If you’re gonna freeload, might as well be useful.” The slightly-playful tone told Akiza all she needed to know.

“Thanks.” After a little longer, she stood up, making her way towards the door. Instead of following her, however, Sojiro merely stood up, tossing something to Akiza. She caught it deftly in one hand, was shocked to see a single key.

“You can lock up behind yourself. I’m getting too old to wait for you to come back every night. Gimme a holler if you need anything, okay?”

Akiza felt the weight of the key in her hand, what it represented, before she pocketed it and nodded. “I will.”

* * *

“Welcome back, Trickster.”

Lavenza’s voice pulled Akiza’s eyes open, rising to wake on the stiff cot in her cell. Piano notes swam languidly through the air as she swung her feet onto the floor. Idly, Akiza noted that it wasn’t as hard to move this time. With the door already open, she padded out into the central room.

“Hi, Lavenza.” Akiza gave a small wave and a small smile, and the girl curtsied in return. “Hey, if I went to sleep with socks on, would they show up here? The floor’s _way_ too cold for bare feet.”

Lavenza’s head tilted some, golden eyes gaining a small twinkle. “It’s very likely. This place is, to some extent, based on your cognition. If you made a note of having worn something to sleep, it would almost surely follow. It’s certainly an easier solution than changing the floor.”

A thought ambushed Akiza. “Oh, right. This place is based off my heart, isn’t it? Does that make this like… my Palace?”

The shorter girl hummed. “Only insofar as it reflects your mental state. It’s especially uncommon for someone who has already awoken to their Persona to have a Palace.”

_But not impossible?_

“In any case,” Igor lilted from his seat at the desk, redirecting them. “I wish to commend you, Trickster, for allowing others into your heart. It is not always a simple a thing to be both true to oneself and nonetheless received. In exchange, the connection between this realm and your own has been allowed to grow as well.”

“How do you mean?” Akiza asked.

Lavenza opened her book. The old pages moved quickly, her eyes glowing while she scanned through. “To abbreviate, you, and only you, will be able to see me waiting at the gate to the Velvet Room in certain locations. For now this will be limited to spaces in the Metaverse, but in time I’m certain we will be able to meet elsewhere too.”

As soon as she’d finished, the pages came to a stop on a familiar picture. “That’s Pixie, isn’t it?”

“Indeed it is,” the silver-haired girl gave a proud smile. Igor picked up, making a rolling hand gesture.

“Anyone who allows themselves to become close with another, inevitably, has their development shaped. It is an impossible thing to avoid, but in the end, when embraced, allows us to overcome adversities we could not alone. As greater challenges emerge, you will find this to be true no matter what reality you occupy.”

“Previously,” Lavenza continued. “I avoided complicating matters unnecessarily. Now, I may inform you that all Personas belong to an Arcana, not dissimilar to the ones you or I might have used for telling fortunes. The Persona Pixie belongs to the Lovers Arcana, which is presently occupied for you by Ann Takamaki. Similarly, the Persona Jack-o-Lantern belongs to the Magician Arcana, occupied for you by Morgana. Are you still following?”

“I’m… pretty sure.” Akiza hazarded. “So if that’s like the other stuff you’ve been saying, then the closer we get, the stronger Personas with that Arcana will be for me?”

The other girl looked pleased with herself. “Correct. It _is_ a great deal of information to keep track of, though, so if you ever have any questions - or wish to know more about a Persona - you need only ask me and I will tell you all that I can.”

“Got it. Thanks.”

Igor raised a finger, getting her attention again. “Additionally, allow me to shed some light on a matter. Among Tricksters such as yourself, it is possible to take on a state of heightened awareness known as the Third Eye. While the common uses of such an ability are to better seek out comrades or hidden valuables, it would seem this has recently caused you some misfortune.”

 _Recently caused…?_ “Oh, was _that_ what happened when everything went gray?”

“Correct. Fortunately, this ability can be trained like any other. Do take care.”

_Oh, so that wasn’t even a Normal Panic Attack. Is that going to happen every time…?_

“Any advice on that?” She asked hopefully.

“None you would find very helpful, I’m afraid.”

“Hm.”

Igor’s smile was basically unchanging, but he offered a palm, fingers upturned as something like a conciliation. “With that, I believe our business is concluded for the night.” Akiza waited for the alarm that would signal the end, and tried to concentrate. “... However, due to the increased strength of our connection, you may now be allowed within the Velvet Room at any time. Exit at your leisure.”

“So I’m _not_ about to be ambushed by any loud noises in a minute?” Akiza pressed.

The mysterious man simply shook his head with a chuckle. “Lavenza, whenever the Trickster agrees, you may show her our facilities.”

Lavenza’s heels clicked against the stone as she moved to Akiza’s other side, facing Igor, then her in turn. “Of course. Would you be willing to learn a little more tonight?”

_You know what? He didn’t say ‘no’, did he?_

Akiza nodded. “Sure. May as well get it all in now.”

The shorter girl turned one last time, and Akiza wondered if she’d be guided through any of the other still-closed doors - only to be surprised when, with a snap of Lavenza’s fingers, _multiple_ guillotines suddenly appeared across an empty stretch of space. Fusion, as it would turn out, “took on an interesting form” in her Velvet Room. The sudden force of the blades descending wasn’t exactly an ‘ambush’ of sound, but it did make her jump anyways, even with the warning. For her money, Akiza had never seen a little girl so excited about guillotines before. They didn’t make anything together, but the demonstration gave a _very_ vivid picture anyways.

_This is just my life now, isn’t it?_

Before leaving, Akiza took some time to go over everything in her head. Not all of what she’d learned here had been said out loud, and not everything was a full answer yet either. Would the connection between their realms be a good thing for everyone, or just her? Igor came off like someone in control, but she’d dealt with her fair share of people who could lie about having it all under wraps.

She was one of them herself.

“Good luck on your mission.” Lavenza bid farewell with a wave.

“Thanks, you too.”

The other girl gave a short laugh. “That’s a bit redundant here, actually.”

“Still though.”

_… Being close with others, huh?_

That the place still looked like a prison hadn’t escaped her. What it would take to make it look like something else was an intimidating prospect. What did it mean to be ‘free’, in a place like this? Akiza laid back down on the cot, and closed her eyes.

_Hm. Well, at least it’s **my** weird life._

**And don’t let anyone else say otherwise, ma chérie.**

Akiza snorted. _In just a few days, it for sure won’t be Kamoshida’s._

And with that, she drifted quickly to a second sleep. In the morning, the team would meet and plan their final operation in the Palace. A grand, life-risking whirlwind heist.

_See you soon, you bastard._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter started out as kind of a bumper, but as we got feedback from our wonderful beta reader and kept workshopping it, it grew into something really nice. There's a lot packed in here, and now that we're free of the tutorial week, we have some more room to breathe and create new things.
> 
> The song that this chapter is titled after, by the way, hit me like a brick to the face while looking for a title. Specifically, the line "Be still, my foolish heart," which we may well end up reusing as its own chapter title at some point.
> 
> Also, Akiza doesn't have her own chat icon yet, but that will be remedied eventually! Once the piece is done, we'll be going back to insert it in places where it belongs.
> 
> \- **Rabbit**
> 
> Once more, thank you to [Turandot](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LostOzian/pseuds/Turandot), who we can now welcome aboard as our Beta Reader for the fic! She does really good work :D
> 
> This chapter ended up being an unexpected favorite for me, based on how it started in the outline. Once we have the Akiza text icon I'm going to go back and edit all the previous text convos to bring their formatting in line as well. Thank you to [Noosey_Woosey](https://noosey-woosey.tumblr.com/post/620012308399325184/noosey-woosey-noosey-woosey-noosey-woosey) for the P5 text icon edits they've made available on tumblr via that link. How exactly we were gonna do text exchanges in the future was troubling us for a while before Rabbit found those.
> 
> Edit (10/20): Hey we've got an Akiza icon too now! Courtesy of [@Dr_Voronin](https://twitter.com/Dr_Voronin/status/1318265479635431424?s=20). It turned out really nice!
> 
> \- **Audible**
> 
> Thank you for reading!


	9. Wonderwall

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW: No content warnings today. Anyways, here's--  
> Today's Chapter Title: [Wonderwall](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gvfgut8nAgw)

_4/17_

Sunday morning began uneventfully, which helped Akiza to conclude that visiting the Velvet Room definitely didn’t make her sick. Sitting up and losing the blanket’s total cover, she was hit by a sudden breeze.

 _The window’s open…? Did I do that?_ She scratched the back of her head; there was no reason to do that in the middle of April. Did it just swing open in the middle of the night? It’s not like Sojiro had kept track of how well the place was taken care of before, so it was definitely possible. As she reached up to investigate and close the window, though, a black-furred form jumped through the gap from outside and onto her lap.

“ _Oof--_ ” It didn’t knock her over or anything, but it definitely made her jump. “Morgana, how did-- wait, why did you leave?” The not-cat merely shrugged (as much as a feline could), scratching behind one ear.

“I go for walks at night sometimes. Just around the neighborhood,” he said nonchalantly. “Usually I’m back before you’re awake though.” At Akiza’s puzzled expression, his ears flattened as he approximated a pout. “Listen, I have a weird sleep schedule, okay?”

Akiza’s mouth twisted into something halfway between a line and a frown for a moment as she replaced his paw with her fingers behind his ears. She supposed that _was_ true, and Morgana could almost definitely take care of himself, but… “Sure. I trust you, of course, but try to stay safe, okay? I know you’re not really a cat, but over here you have the body of one.”

Morgana huffed indignantly, oozing away from her touch and off onto the floor. Akiza followed suit, starting to get ready for the day. “I know I’m small in this world, but I promise I can take care of myself. I’ll be careful.”

The girl pulled out an easy combination of hoodie and boot-cut blue jeans. Idly, she thought she should look into some more feminine clothes at some point. Hoodie season wouldn’t last forever. _Maybe Ann would know._ “I’m sure you will, Mona.” She changed while Morgana politely fixed his attention to something on the work desk. When she looked back, he was more apologetic. “Don’t worry about it. C’mon, let’s go get breakfast. We’ve got work today.”

* * *

“Alright, how are we doing this?” Ann asked.

Ryuji had suggested they meet at Inokashira park in order to make sure they weren’t overheard, and his plan seemed to have paid off. He’d taken them off the beaten trail, to a small pond with a dirt running path curling around part of its perimeter. Presently, Morgana was pacing back and forth on a low stone wall by the bench.

“We need a plan,” the not-cat mused. “If we think about what we already know, he’s started keeping his Treasure on him now, and that’s what allows him to become that massive monster.”

Ann shivered just a bit, whether from the memory of the awful six-armed _thing_ or from the April chill, Akiza couldn’t be sure. “And there’s no way we can take that thing head-on. Last time we fought it, we nearly got flattened.”

“So, we gotta get the crown away from him without gettin’ into a fight.” Ryuji’s leg bounced as he shoved another handful of jagariko into his mouth. “Can Akiza use the grappling hook and just grab it?”

Akiza shook her head, cradling the warmth of her coffee thermos in her lap. “The hook, like, digs into things. We can’t afford to damage the crown, that might screw up the whole plan.” She blew a stream of air out, raking a hand through her curls. “The only way he’d take it off himself would be if we were disguised like prisoners--”

“But none of us are going to do that,” Ann piped up resolutely.

“--But none of us are going to do that, right. So, I’ve been thinking about a different plan.” Unbidden, Akiza felt her mouth curl into a sly smile, lacing her fingers together in front of her face. “One where we use his castle against him.”

Ann and Ryuji leaned forward, brows raised.

 _Okay, this might be a LITTLE fun,_ she thought as she stood up. Julie’s laughter in her mind echoed the sentiment. “Let’s go hit up Untouchable. We’re gonna need walkie-talkies. We’ll do a quick scouting trip today, avoid combat whenever possible, and get ready to do this tomorrow.”

“Why tomorrow?” Ryuji asked as they began making their way out of the park. “If everything's where it’s gotta be, why can’t we do it today?”

Akiza’s devious grin was indelible. “We’re thieves. We need to prepare our calling card.”

* * *

_4/18_

Akiza and Ann leaned against the far wall, watching the growing pack of students crowd around the noticeboard currently plastered in red and black. The chaos had begun the moment the school doors opened, halls full of confused whispers and speculations.

Ann glanced sidelong at Akiza, a little grin tugging at the corner of her lips. “You look like you’re enjoying yourself,” she remarked, as if she herself wasn’t coursing with anticipation for the bastard himself to lay his eyes on their work. Akiza merely lifted her thermos, hiding a wicked grin behind her coffee. Her eye caught on a shock of blond hair pushing through the crowd, and quickly found herself joined by Ryuji, who was nearly vibrating with energy.

“Pretty good, huh?” His proud grin was like a bolt of lightning to Akiza’s heart, and she found herself thinking _no, stop, Haru is already too much. Focus._ She nodded instead, trying to keep the blush from her face. “It all went super smooth. Now we just gotta wait for--”

“What’s going on here?” Kamoshida’s voice cut across the murmur of the assembled crowd, who parted like the sea to allow him through. Akiza had to bite down on her lip to keep the smile down, watching Kamoshida’s face morph from confusion to shock to outright fury as his eyes scanned one copy of the many pinned to the notice board.

**SIR SIGURU KAMOSHIDA, THE UTTER BASTARD OF LUST:**  
**FOR TOO LONG, YOU HAVE USED YOUR REPUTATION TO INFLICT YOURSELF ON THE BLAMELESS.**  
**INNOCENT CHILDREN SUFFER AT THE HAND OF A VILE TYRANT WHO SEEKS ONLY TO FULFIL HIS OWN TWISTED DESIRES.**  
**THUS, WE WILL MAKE YOU CONFESS YOUR CRIMES WITH YOUR OWN MOUTH**  
**WE WILL TAKE YOUR DISTORTED DESIRES WITHOUT FAIL.**  
**SIGNED,**  
**THE PHANTOM THIEVES OF HEART**

“Wha… Who is responsible for this!?” His angry gaze swept across the assembled students, all of whom attempted to disappear as fast as they could. “Was it you? Was it _you!?_ ” He turned again, and presently stormed over to the trio. “This was you three, wasn’t it? What exactly is this supposed to mean?”

Akiza lowered the thermos, her face the picture of manufactured innocence. “I have no idea, sir.” She spoke in calm, measured tones; fearless, limitless. “We just arrived at school a minute ago.”

She watched _the_ teeth grind in Kamoshida’s head as he straightened up, regaining some measure of composure.

“Fine,” he spat. “Not like it matters anyway. You’ll be expelled soon enough.” The massive man turned on his heel promptly, storming off down the hall.

Vindication. Nervousness. Confidence. Righteous anger. Fear. Boiling together in her gut, threatening to spill out at the slightest touch. Her anger burned, her anger chilled, her anger sparked like lightning and coalesced into a dark, burning curse in her heart, as if she could hold up her hand and see Julie’s claws in plain sight. Akiza looked to her left, then her right, then into her bag, and saw Kidd and Carmen and Zorro burning behind the eyes of her fellow thieves. She took a steadying breath, fighting the grin down.

“Keep your heads down today. We’ll see you at lunch, Ryuji. After school, we make this happen.” The nods from the others were grave, trusting, joyful, and anxious all at once.

The girls and Ryuji parted ways as they headed to homeroom.

* * *

“Joker in position, sound off. Over.” _Click_.

“Panther’s ready, over.” _Click_.

“Mona in position, over!” _Click_.

“Skull’s ready.” Click. “Uh, over.” _Click_.

Skull breathed. Being alone in the Palace was… freaky. Yeah, “freaky” was the word. Especially so close to that _scumbag_ Kamoshida’s Shadow.

“Everyone’s in position. Stick to the plan, don’t take any stupid risks, and we got this. Skull, count us off and go. Over.” Joker’s voice played just barely loud enough for him to hear it with the walkie-talkie pressed up against his ear. Skull knew his route cold. _All I gotta do is make noise and go fast,_ he thought. He could handle that.

“Right,” he whispered into the walkie. Breathe. “Skull goin’ loud in five, four, three, two… one. Over.” He pocketed the thing, hoisted his new spiked bat onto his shoulder, and stepped out into the light of the King’s throne room.

“HEY! Kamo- _shithead!_ You gonna sit there all day while we steal your shit, or what!?” His voice thundered out across the grand hallway and a dozen knights, the fake Shiho, and the King all turned to face him at once. The taunting smile on his own face was so, _so_ real, especially when he watched Kamoshida’s face screw up like he’d just been force-fed a lemon, spitting with fury.

“YOU! I knew you little _thieves_ weren’t done here yet-- this is _my_ castle! Guards! Kill him! Kill him, kill him, kill him!” The air seemed to almost bend, shadows leaking from the walls around the furious King while knight after knight clattered to the floor, a veritable horde starting to amble forward before sprinting. Skull spent just enough time to verify Kamoshida himself was in that throng still dragging Shiho along, then pivoted back and started bolting down the stairs. Despite everything, he couldn’t get the smile off his face.

From her place on the balcony, Panther clutched her whip in her right hand, crouched low and out of sight. She felt coiled like a spring, tension and energy waiting to be unleashed as soon as Skull and the knights burst past the same doorway they’d been chased through last time. The doors had yet to be replaced, so she had a full view of the menagerie heading out, the King and Shiho at the back of the pack.

A tendril of red lashed out around a gargoyle positioned high along the tower they’d just exited, and Panther aimed with the SMG in her other hand, standing tall on the railing. _I wonder if this is how it feels to be a trapeze artist? Minus the gun, anyways._ With a grin, she shouted. “Hey asshole!” Kamoshida’s head whipped back. “Duck!”

Panther jumped and felt wind pulling against her face. Kamoshida didn’t quite duck, but he _did_ let go of Shiho to protect his face and crown with both arms. _Joker was right,_ Panther thought. _He has to protect the crown._ Shiho stepped away, and it was the happiest she’d ever seen the cognitive version look. Mid-fall, Panther clipped the unused SMG back onto her side and reached out to catch Shiho by the waist, carrying both of them upwards to the rooftop passageway on the other side.

“Told you I’d be back.” Panther said when they touched down.

“I knew you would be.” Shiho answered. Even if it wasn’t the real deal, hearing that pulled on her soul, but she couldn’t get lost in that now. Panther felt it in her _bones_ when the King started shouting from below, the sickening squelch as his body started to morph and expand into its true, most hideous form.

“GET BACK HERE YOU BITCH! SHE’S MINE. NO ONE ELSE CAN HAVE HER!”

Hate filled the air, but it was nothing when compared to the love in Panther’s heart.

“Hope you don’t mind running.” She smirked, voice a little shaky, and interlocked one hand with the cognitive Shiho’s.

Together they set down a maze of twisting corridors, moving as fast as possible. _“Corners are your friends,”_ Joker had said. “ _When he’s that size, he won’t be able to take corners as well as the rest of us. We’ll use that to our advantage.”_ With an escort to guide, naturally her route was the most mazelike of them all. The hallway leading to the cathedral-gym was almost in sight though, so Panther pulled out her walkie and opened the channel.

Mona lay in the rafters above, feeling rather impressed. The setup was thorough, and reminded him of his older work. After blasting wind down a hall to keep the Shadows chasing Skull in place, it was easy for Captain Kidd to turn and cave the roof in behind them. Now Skull was tucked behind the King’s massive statue while he waited in the rafters above. The walkie crackled on his hip, so he turned up the volume. Even if a Shadow heard something, none of them would be able to stop the plan in time anyways.

“Get ready boys, we’ve got the target hot on our heels!” _Click._

“Roger Panther! You can count on us!”

With a flourish, Mona planted his sword into the wood and called upon Zorro, channeling power. He threw a sign down to Skull to get ready as well, and the blond backed away to the stained glass windows, bringing Kidd to standby. From the archway on their left came Panther and the cognitive Shiho, running straight for the exit opposite them leading to the main entrance. The sound of cursing taunts came pouring out from behind the girls, and it wouldn’t be long now. The Ruler’s twisted energy made his fur stand on end.

Roaring in defiance, the King crashed through the archway in a cloud of rubble, crunching and slicing into the pews while he searched for his targets. There was nothing in the castle he valued, save for himself, so the next step felt only fitting.

“SKULL, NOW!”

“Alright, let’s get it!!”

Cannonfire erupted from Kidd’s guns, crushing the enormous statue’s feet to dust. With some effort, Mona pressed heavy winds to the effigy’s back, making sure it would fall forward. Gravity did most of the work, bringing the whole thing down _hard_. The King brought up its hands immediately, shielding the crown again while the stone crumbled on impact, already brittle from Skull’s offensive, scattering dust and grit.

It would have been a risky strategy, if they hadn’t already known just how scared and weak the King felt without his symbol of power. As it was, the Ruler clearly felt every impact, looking genuinely hurt for the first time.

Zorro vanished into spectral flame while Mona leapt down from the rafters, landing with all the practiced grace of a thief on Kidd’s waiting boat below. Skull hooked one leg into the rigging, and together they sailed off, waiting just long enough for the King’s daze to end and see which direction they’d headed. Shutting off their previous route didn’t leave much room for leading the King around, but with any luck, Joker and Panther should have completed their own prep by now. Below, Skull pumped his fist.

“Damn, that _ruled!_ We’ve got this in the bag!”

Mona hummed. “Don’t get cocky just yet. There’s still one more step.”

“Oh come on, you got to look cool as hell! Would it kill ya to get just a _little_ hype?”

He fought down the grin. Being on a team just felt good. “It _could._ ”

“Ahhh, whatever. There’s no way we’re failin’ now, so I’ll just have to be hype enough for both of us!”

The thing behind them screamed all through the halls, unable to catch up until they wanted it to, Skull making his own jabs to keep the King on task. When the route ran dry, they’d arrived back in the main entrance, but made no attempts to exit through the grand doors.

“YOU RUNTS THINK YOU CAN ESCAPE? I AM THE KING!”

Mona hopped off and got a wink from Skull while they broke apart, dividing the Ruler’s attention. Having to stick so close to it now was more than dangerous, but they had to keep the Shadow in place. He just hoped they wouldn’t have to for much longer.

Above, Joker wiped sweat from her brow, channeling a steady stream of that other energy into her Persona. Jack-o-Lantern’s flames continued to burn and scorch against the twisted metal keeping the chandelier in place while Mona and Skull fought below. Panther, one arm wrapped around cognitive Shiho’s waist, was making a similar effort with Carmen on the other side. Joker huffed. Heat was _pouring_ off the chain by now, light catching in all the crystals hanging around them.

Below, she could hear the sounds of the King’s metal implements scraping against the tile, grinding up stone and barely shaking the massive chandelier they were poised on.

“Alright, Panther, go. I’ve got it from here.”

Panther’s crystal-blue eyes flickered over, lip caught between her teeth. After a moment, she nodded, putting her mask back on and holding tightly onto Shiho with her free arm. “Careful.” And the two of them slung down via Panther’s whip, end coiled around the far banister. The blonde set Shiho down farther away before launching into the fight as well, doing everything to keep Kamoshida in place.

 _Come on, come on!_ Joker urged, giving the chain as much as Jack-o-Lantern could provide. The chain was warping, straining around a single link, groaning while it swayed.

_Almost…_

Fire, wind, and lightning pelted against the King’s raw skin. Trying to bat the others aside through it all, he began to scream. “I’LL EXECUTE YOU ALL! EVERY LAST ONE OF YOU, DO YOU HEAR ME!? I OWN EVERYTHING HERE! ANYTHING I WANT, ANYTHING I SEE, IT’S ALL MINE TO--”

The sound of squealing metal cut him off. The thing glanced up, just in time to see Joker kicking off the chandelier, casting aside her mask dramatically with one arm. She called upon her soul with a resounding “ _Julie!_ End this!”

The raven-winged duelist appeared in a burst of blue fire, rapier lashing out to swipe cleanly through the heat-warped chain.

The chandelier, in all its wrought-iron glory, fell directly onto the Shadow’s back, pinning him down.

Its impact sounded with a deafening crash as Joker’s blurred form tumbled over backwards once, twice, grappling hook firing upwards to anchor and slow her fall. The shattered remains of the chandelier’s crystals arced through the air, tiny constellations drawn across the room as they fell to the floor below. The Shadow’s head hit the floor with a thunk, its awful tongue caught underneath its body, and the crown clanged to the floor. It rolled out, shrinking in size as it traveled, and Joker swung into its path, stopping the crown with a boot soon after touching down. Crouching to pick up the now original-sized crown, she was surprised by how heavy it still felt.

“...Did we do it?” Joker looked up from the crown, watching Panther and Skull’s masks coalesce again as they approached her. Panther was in the lead, Skull trying not to be too obvious in how he was favoring his good leg. On her other side, Kamoshida’s Shadow had reverted to its human-like state.

“It looks like it.” Mona hopped up to Joker’s shoulder, examining the crown in her hand. “The Shadow hasn’t dissipated, which means it wasn’t destroyed. That _should_ mean his psyche is intact.”

“So, he ain’t gonna die?” Skull eyed the downed shadow warily, like he was expecting it to spring back to life and crush them to death. Joker couldn’t exactly fault him; holding the crown didn’t make the air of the Palace any less oppressive. She watched her companion’s jaw set. “So as long as we don’t touch him, he stays alive. I gotcha.” He glanced over to Joker, eyes half-hidden by the angle of his steel mask. Joker nodded, and Skull stepped forward.

“Wake _up_ , you dumb bastard!” Skull’s pipe thudded heavily into the tile in front of the prone Shadow’s head, jerking it out of unconsciousness. The Shadow groaned, lifting its head up as much as it could while half-trapped under the chandelier as Skull spoke up again, mockery dripping off his every word. “Not so scary without your crown, huh?”

“My… my crown,” the Shadow mumbled. It gazed up at Joker, one hand grasping fruitlessly for the Treasure in her arms. “My crown, I need my crown! I’m nothing without--”

“What the hell is _wrong_ with you!?” Skull slammed his bat down on the tile floor again, crunching it beneath the weapon and silencing the Shadow with a yelp. “I ain’t smart. I ain’t good at much. Track was… It was all I had. It was somethin’ I was finally gonna do for my ma. She was _proud_ of me, goddamnit! And you took that away!”

Something was quaking in Skull’s voice as he admonished the Shadow, and as Joker watched his free hand fall to his side, fist clenched and shaking, it only took one lurch of his shoulders for her to put two and two together.

“I lived with that for so long, lettin’ myself think it was my fault. But it never was. It was always _you_. And I can’t ever get that back now--” He cut himself off with a hiccup, and at that moment, Joker’s heart tore in half. She handed the crown to Mona, who hopped down as she crossed to Skull in a single stride, turning him to wrap her arms around him. He responded almost on instinct, dropping his bat with a thunk and grabbing tightly to the back of her jacket.

“It’s okay, Ryuji.” Joker’s voice was low and even, bearing the shuddering of Skull’s hiccuped sobs. “You’re okay.” He didn’t respond, burying his face in the crook of her neck, cool metal of his mask tap-tapping against her collarbone. She didn’t mind.

Panther just about growled, cracking her whip against the floor to get the Shadow’s attention. The Shadow jumped, looking as if it would try to scramble away if not for the chandelier.

“How does it feel,” she asked. “How does it feel to be powerless, just hoping that someone bigger than you will ignore you today?” At her side, Joker felt the cognitive Shiho fidget, inching a little closer to Panther. She couldn’t help but feel sympathetic; had she been forced to endure so much torment from Kamoshida, she’d be screaming right now as well. As awful as being outed was… it was a one-time occurrence. Skull and Panther had been under his heel for a year now.

The Shadow continued snivelling on the ground. “I-I was just… just being rewarded for the good work I was doing with the volleyball team! I deserved that, I--”

“God, shut _up_!” Another crack of the whip, another yelp, and Panther stalked closer, crouching down, speaking quietly but with no less venom, voice ice-cold.

“When Mona told us you might die, I barely blinked. After everything you did to me, to the other girls, to Shiho--” She cut herself off, stealing a glance at the cognition that stood silently, watching everything unfold. “You would have deserved it. But you deserve worse. So when you get back to your real self, you’re gonna confess _everything_. Understand me?”

The Shadow’s eyes widened in fear at first, nearly trembling before Panther, and the rush it sent down her spine was something she’d have to consider later. _Carmen_ certainly approved, anyway. After a moment, the specter of Kamoshida shifted to a more placid, almost contented face. “I understand,” he said, with a voice like he’d made peace with everything. As he spoke, a soft white light began to envelop his body, travelling out from the center of his chest. “I’ll go back to my real self, and I’ll… I’ll…”

A massive rumbling above their heads tore Panther’s gaze away, and when she looked back, the Shadow was gone, evaporated into white lights.

“That was different from how they disappear when they die,” Mona piped up. “We have to wait and see, now.” Joker and Skull separated behind him, masks pushed up to their foreheads and tear tracks running down their cheeks. Both of them were smiling softly, and Panther couldn’t help but match their expressions. The cognitive Shiho held up one hand, as if waving.

“Thank you,” she said. “Thank you so much.” Panther didn’t have time to reply as the cognition flickered out of view, and another tremor shook the building.

“We,” Mona stated with the measured tone of someone trying not to cause a panic as he handed Joker the crown, “should probably get out of here before the Palace disintegrates.”

A half-second of pause, and then--

“ _What do you MEAN, ‘disintegrates’!?_ ” Skull’s eyes nearly bugged out of his head.

When Mona opened his mouth to answer, one of the ceiling beams groaned and cracked. Another chandelier hit the floor.

“It goes away without a Ruler to support it!” Mona cried. “Now let’s _go!_ ”

Ann scrambled to her feet as Morgana began scampering towards the door.

In a chorus of sprinting, screaming, and flailing limbs, the newly-minted thieves bolted for the exit, the castle collapsing behind them.

* * *

Emerging from the Metaverse after such an ordeal felt to Akiza like running into a wall of honey at a dead sprint. The real world had none of the lightness, the effortlessness of motion that the Metaverse conferred. Maybe it was just exhaustion dropping onto her like an anvil, saturating her bones and leaving her sitting against an alleyway wall, boneless and breathless, Morgana strewn haphazardly across her lap. Ann and Ryuji seemed to be in similar shape; seated across the narrow alley from her, Ryuji had stretched his right leg out as flat as it would go, with Ann slumped against his shoulder, both breathing like they’d just run ten kilometers.

(They’d probably only run, like, three hundred meters… Hard to tell in the castle, but it sure felt like more.)

“We…” Ryuji was the first to speak up. “We lived! We didn’t… hah… die!” Ann gave a weak cheer and limply raised one fist, and Akiza couldn’t help but chuckle. Gradually, she became aware of the phone currently in a death grip in her left hand, looking down at it as the weird app-- the Meta-Nav, as Igor had called it, pinged softly.

 _“Thank you for your hard work,”_ it said in the same automated-sounding voice it always used. She watched the sole option on the dropdown, _Castle of Lust_ , grow dim, covered by bright red text reading _'SEIZED'._

Her other hand was _also_ curled around something tightly, something disc-shaped and heavy. Turning over her hand, it looked like--

“Is that a medal?” Ann sat up slightly, still leaning on Ryuji in a way that made Akiza’s heart pang and _no, push that down, lock it away, she’s talking again._ “Where’d the crown go?”

Mona flopped over to his other side, righting himself with a wiggle. “The Treasure must have taken the form of whatever caused his distorted cognitions. In this case, an Olympic medal, by the looks.” Getting a better look at it, Akiza noted that it seemed well cared-for, polished on the raised edges but still tarnished in the recesses. It was old, but maintained.

“He couldn’t let go of his glory days, huh?” Ryuji propped himself up a bit more, massaging his sore thigh. “That’s kinda what his Shadow was sayin’. That he was entitled to shit.”

A silence hung in the alleyway, broken up by the traffic and pedestrians around the corner. It wasn’t awkward, just… peaceful, in a sense. With a breath, Akiza hoped that this feeling would last.

Eventually, the three teens and their feline companion hauled themselves to their feet, trudging to the Shibuya diner for a much-deserved meal. They chatted on and off; Ann about Shiho’s condition, Ryuji about a talk he’d had with Mishima. Akiza stayed quiet, only piping up to offer an agreement or murmur some response. The peace and contentment faded, gnawed away by something more foreboding, like something was still looming over her. They’d have to wait to see if the change of heart worked, of course, but there was something… more than that. Closer to her heart. She reached for the spot in her mind where Julie nestled and found her there, presence reassuring as always.

Ann was the first to rise, saying she had something to take care of before night fell. Ryuji mentioned something about selling the medal to fund a victory celebration; Akiza, half-listening, nodded in assent. Her mind was elsewhere. She just wished she knew _where_.

* * *

Ann’s limbs felt weak, and it had nothing to do with the heist from earlier. Well, okay, maybe at least a little bit to do with it.

Seeing the cognitive Shiho look so grateful, the way the real deal did whenever she came by to visit at the hospital, it… it didn’t _hurt_ , but it filled her with so much feeling at once that it came kind of close. It was too many things to really sift through at once, but at the very front of it all was an undeniable, _powerful_ sense of love. Something about that had struck her at the time, and now she had an idea of why; even with the cognitive Shiho being a twisted thing, made from Kamoshida’s subconscious, it hadn’t erased that feeling of love.

The buildup today, right now, sitting in the hospital lobby while she stewed in it, was maybe even stronger than what she’d felt burning away inside when she’d first awoken to her Persona. Carmen was there as a weight in the back of her mind now, silent so far, but there all the same. It was a little reminder of the conversation they’d had before, although it came across a little differently.

She wasn’t weak for not being able to speak up right away. It wasn’t bad to be afraid. When they were ready, she would act again.

Confronting it all at once felt a little too hard, in an unsettling sort of way. There was a sort of tightness in her gut, something like what she felt in the moments just after realizing some sleazy modelling agent had outsmarted her. Only this time, her opponent was her own thoughts.

No one in the world would get away with saying she wasn’t willing to work for the things that mattered. But most of her life had, admittedly, been spent coasting. Modelling and laughing and shopping and just sort of taking up space. The last couple years had been a lot harder, but until recently, she hadn’t _really_ taken control yet. Now, if she closed her eyes, it almost felt like there were reins to take, the same way Carmen held leashes.

It was like… a feeling of control, for the first time. The sense that wherever she went from now on, it would be because she _wanted_ to go there.

That newfound control could lead her to Shiho’s door, and it could take her in, and it could push the words out, but that was as far as it could take her.

And _that_ was what had her stuck in the lobby.

Confessions were something else. They were the most painfully honest thing someone could ever do, and there was no practicing them. When she went in, Ann would have to put everything out on the table, in the open air, and hope that Shiho would put some things of her own out on the table too.

Shiho would never hurt her on purpose. Ann trusted Shiho to be kind, if things really didn’t work out, and Ann trusted Shiho with much more than that. It was just…

She and Ryuji had always been dancing around something, something just outside of their reaches. When he’d come to middle school one day with a godawful bleach job in his hair, shouting at the kids that picked on her about how they should try to pick on him if they felt tough, something had started to click. They hadn’t even known each others’ names at that point. That day after school, she’d dragged him to her house to bleach his hair properly, and he’d just… fit so effortlessly into her life beside Shiho. Even as they drifted apart, Akiza had inadvertently dragged them back together, and it was like nothing had changed; they still fit together, still dancing around that something, growing inexorably closer to reaching it as the days passed.

And Akiza. God, _Akiza_. Every time she or Ryuji managed to coax a genuine smile out of her, Ann felt her heart swell. It was like those songs about roses pushing up through concrete; a little bit of joy shining through from someone so beaten-down and trod upon that it made Ann want to start tearing down the Tokyo skyline to give Akiza the sunlight she deserved. In that little cafe in the middle of nowhere, Akiza had trusted them with a secret, with a truth more precious than any Ann could imagine. Kamoshida had flayed her alive, and somehow she’d been able to face them afterwards.

Akiza, she realized, reminded her tragically of Shiho.

It was just-- was it selfish, to want more than just Shiho? Did she deserve to want more than what one person could give, like that wasn’t just as important, like it wouldn’t mean the world to her if Shiho liked her back? It was all twisting around itself, knotting up her heart, before Carmen’s voice rang in her head.

**Look up, chica. Will you have enough time?**

The analog clock across the way told her it was an hour before visitors couldn’t be around any more. Ann shook her head, expression tightening. “I didn’t come all this way to stop now. I can do this.”

**That’s the little flame I know! Go on then, let yourself be heard.**

Walking gave her just enough time to be ready to push through the door when she got there. Ann hadn’t given any warning she was coming, no texts or anything, just knocked on the already halfway open door before walking in. Shiho, leaned back on the raised bed, had been watching TV with a bored expression before turning to see her. The dark-haired girl’s brows rose up, mouth open in a little “o” before solidifying into the smile that made her want to melt every time.

It was hard not to blurt out “I love you”, but somehow she managed.

Before, she’d been too focused on Shiho and her condition to really take in some of the details of her room, but two of them hit her right there and then. The first was the way Shiho’s heart rate spiked, just a little, after seeing her. It was smoothing out already, and while it was easy to think that must have been something that happened _any time_ someone walked in, it was also the first time Ann had ever really thought about the way Shiho was always using her hoodie as a second blanket, or a sort of pillow-case.

Shiho’s smile got just a little wider, and Ann figured she must have looked odd, just walking in and saying nothing, so she smiled back and pulled up the single extra chair in the room to sit beside her.

“Hey.” Ann said.

“Hey.” Shiho responded, keeping that same smile. God, how was she supposed to talk right now?

“So, um, we…” Her voice hung, and she cursed herself for it. _Talk, damnit! Say something!_

“We what?” Shiho quirked one eyebrow just a bit, head tilted, and Ann had to fight down the urge to shout her love again. Instead, she placed one hand on the bed, beside Shiho. The heart monitor blipped again, and Ann was thankful it wasn’t showing _her_ heart rate.

“Shiho,” she said, summoning up as much of Carmen’s fire as she could. “I like you. A lot. Like, a _lot_ a lot.”

Ann spent half a second worrying about the way she’d said it, the phrasing, the delivery, whether she was _breathing_ too hard, but just as quickly realized there was no other way to do this. If she couldn’t just say what came to mind, give voice to the feelings that kept her warm like a hearth, then it wouldn’t work out anyways. And Shiho’s smile got just a bit wider again, a little more open-mouthed. _Grinning_ was definitely the right word to describe it. More blips from the monitor, a little faster.

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah.” The world became so simple with that question, and her answer came as a breath. “I love you. And I hope… I hope you love me too.”

Shiho’s eyes widened, heart rate going further up and staying there. She laughed, a hard sort of sound that was almost unfamiliar by now, but it was one she’d do anything to hear over and over and over again. The dark-haired girl’s fingers played over the back of her own, and they came together in a hold, limp at first on Ann’s side before she grabbed too. “Jeez, you really don’t make it easy to tease you! I… Of course I love you too, Ann.”

Shiho’s pulse was in the palm of her hand, in the little shifting of her body while she moved over, in the girl’s dark eyes that glittered like jewels. Ann felt a wetness at the corners of her eyes, and moved to wipe them away. Before she could, she thought better of it. Carmen had said there was no such thing as wasted tears, after all. She let them flow, finding herself full and overflowing with smiles and laughter and joy.

“I-I…” She started to say something, but cut herself off with a hiccup, and that set Shiho giggling again. They met each others’ gazes again, and everything looked a little brighter.

Shiho's other hand hovered uncertainly in the air next to Ann’s chin. “Can I…” Shiho swallowed with a dry sound. “C-can I kiss you?”

Ann wiped her eyes with her free hand and nodded wordlessly. She leaned in sweetly, listening to the quick beeping beside her, and the small breath that escaped Shiho. Ann wrapped her spare arm around Shiho’s back and Shiho’s hooked around her waist. Their lips came together softly, and some of Ann’s lip gloss smeared onto Shiho. Together, one kiss didn’t seem to be enough yet, so they met again, and one more time after that. Their shoulders gave a single heave of breath, faces left staring into one another.

“I think,” Shiho swallowed. “That’s about as much as I can do.”

She didn’t have to explain why. “It’s fine. We don’t even have to do that, if… if it wouldn’t be good for you.”

“No, I liked it. I’ll just… have to take this slow, alright?”

“Yeah, of course.”

Ann giggled, pulling a tissue from her purse for Shiho to clean up. Shiho blushed, but looked happy.

“So,” the other girl started, heart rate gradually falling back to normal levels. “When, um.” She bit her lip a bit, the hand still twined with Ann’s tensing slightly. “When did you know? That you l-loved me.”

Ann considered carefully. She couldn’t tell Shiho about everything that had gone on inside the Palace. At least, not without conferring with the group first. “I… was looking at a picture,” she said, hammering the truth into something more plausible. “Akiza and Ryuji were asking me about my phone’s background. It’s still that picture of us after your first volleyball game in middle school.” She smiled fondly at the memory. “I explained it, and I started thinking about… about how precious you are to me.” Ann felt her heart melt a little at the way Shiho flushed pink, and she let the emotions she’d felt in the Palace spill out in this more palatable form.

“When… when Friday happened, it got me thinking. About… things that I’d never thought about. Like, what I’d do if I lost you, somehow.” Carmen’s flame was a warm glow, a balm to her heart. “And when I told Akiza and Ryuji about the pic, I realized that… that I couldn’t lose you. That I would do anything to make you happy. So I marched over here before I chickened out.” She grinned just a little, more sheepish than before. “It just made so much sense, when I started thinking about it like that.”

They smiled at each other again, Shiho squeezing Ann’s hand again, and there was a moment of comfortable silence.

“After I got to the hospital,” Shiho said. “I couldn’t help but think about how you were there, how you-- how you _saved_ me.” She teared up a bit, so Ann placed her other hand overtop of the one she held. “I thought about it the whole day, wondering if I was just… reacting to you being there. And I slept on it, and when I woke up, it was like…” She trailed off, looking over to the window and the Tokyo skyline beyond, buildings framed as silhouettes against the sun that set behind them. “It was like I just _knew_. Like everything just made sense, all of a sudden.” She turned back to Ann, and her smile was uncomplicated and joyful.

They sat in silence for another few moments, interrupted when Ann’s phone buzzed in her bag.

“Oh, sorry,” she said, quickly silencing it. “It’s just Ryuji, he can wait.” Something about that set off a giggle between them.

“So, you two are talking again?” Shiho sounded curious. “You didn’t for so long. He’s in my class, but we just kind of…”

“Drifted apart?” Shiho nodded at Ann’s suggestion. “Yeah, us too. When everything started happening with-- with high school,” she said, interrupting herself to prevent Kamoshida’s name from tainting the room. “It was just… easier to let him do his own thing. After his leg got broken and we visited him in the hospital…” She sighed, feeling that thorn of guilt wrap around her heart again, now that the drunken haze of requited love was starting to clear just a bit. “It was just easier to let him do his own thing.”

Shiho nodded. She understood; she had been just as close with Ryuji in middle school as Ann had been. “So, how did you reconnect?”

“It… was Akiza, actually.” Ann figured she could talk around the Palace, leaving those moments of trust and partnership hidden. “She helped me out on my way to school last Monday. We ran into Ryuji, and he and I started to fight, and she made us shut up and be nice to each other.” She laughed once, looking down at their hands. “I’m glad she did. She’s been a big help since we met. It’s like… she barely knew our names before she started making us get over ourselves. She actually… had a run-in with you-know-who on Friday, but she’s okay.”

“That’s good,” Shiho said. “I’m glad you’re making other friends,” she teased lightly, earning a pout from Ann. “I’d like to spend some more time with them once I’m out.” Her brow knit just barely, for a fragment of a second, before she continued. “You sound all breathless just talking about them.”

“Oh! B-Breathless?” Ann felt like she’d been pinched. Oh god, did Shiho think that Ann wasn’t into this?! “I’ve just, y’know. Been spending a lot of time with them. We actually… we pulled off something big. Kind of a scheme, to help Akiza out after what happened to her.”

“A scheme?”

“You’ll see!” She piped up, a bit louder than she perhaps would have liked, earning a little squeak from Shiho. “I can’t wait for you to see! You’re going to love it, I promise. And them! Everything’s going to be okay now.” She squeezed Shiho’s hand again.

“Ann, Ann, it’s okay,” she laughed, and Ann felt herself relax without thinking. “I believe you. I’m just a little nervous to see them, after what happened on Friday.”

“We could do something really casual. We’ll go for crepes together, like we used to in middle school,” Ann encouraged.

“It’s not just that,” Shiho said. “It’s been so long since I talked to Ryuji, and I only met Akiza-san once. You’re clearly pretty close to them, if you’re doing _schemes_ together.” Ann bit her tongue while she waited for Shiho to finish her thought. “It’s hard to put into words how I feel that they’re… seeing me at my weakest. Maybe they aren’t going to want me around the way you do.”

“Come on, you _know_ Ryuji. He’s just as glad that you’re okay as I am. And Akiza is the sweetest!”

“I do know that. I’m just having a hard time believing it.” Shiho took hold of Ann’s hand again. Anchored by Shiho’s hand and buoyed by Carmen’s warmth, Ann took a deep breath and released it. “We’ll talk about it more once I get out of here, okay?”

Ann nodded. “Right. And if it is uncomfortable for you, say the word. I’ll whisk you out of there, no problem!”

 _That_ got Shiho blushing again. The dusting of pink that colored Shiho’s cheeks set Ann’s heart fit to melt again. “You’ll save me again and again. What did I do to deserve that?”

“You didn’t have to do anything.”

With her free hand, timidly, Shiho beckoned Ann closer, and as she leaned in, Shiho’s arms were around her, holding tight to the back of her shirt. Her voice was soft in Ann’s ear.

“On the… on Friday,” she began. “I-I said that I wanted you to hate me. So it’d be easier when I was g-gone.” Shiho squeezed, and Ann could only sit there, frozen as she listened. “I know I wasn’t thinking straight, back then, but…” A deep breath. Ann wound her hands around Shiho’s back, and felt the other girl relax a bit more. “I’m not letting go. I promise. You… Ann, you mean so much to me. There’s no one else like you. I love you so, so much.” Shiho hiccuped once, but Ann felt her smile against her ear.

Ann buried her face in the crook of Shiho’s neck, smiling and crying again. They sat like that for a while, and then they kissed a little more, laughing into each others’ lips. It didn’t feel like enough time at all, when the nurse came by and said visiting hours were over. Shiho managed to convince her that Ann wouldn’t be any trouble, so she got to stay a little while longer, and it wasn’t until Ann was absolutely sure she’d miss the last train home if she didn’t go _now_ that she left. They hugged tight, and Ann made sure to leave her hoodie behind again. Honestly, that one was probably basically Shiho’s by now anyways.

Not that she minded.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're back! This chapter took some effort, including extensive revisions/reworkings to the final scene in the hospital-- big shoutouts to Turnadot for helping us out with that one! I'm super glad to finally be moving out of Kamoshida's arc and out into the wider world of the story
> 
> Look out for a special (not Shine On but still P5) Halloween project from us for the end of the month!
> 
> \- **Rabbit**
> 
> I'm also _super_ glad to be moving out of Kamoshida Hell. It's a hard period to crawl out of, but like Rabbit said, the game's opening up and so is what we can do! The characters have a groove, and things are picking up steam. When we get to him, Yusuke is a character very near and dear to my heart, so I'm looking forward to that :)
> 
> Hope you had fun with a more heist-like approach to the end of the Palace. With the advent of the [Akiza icon](https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/181479476968947713/768216266086547516/akiz_chat_icon.png), the texts from the last couple chapters have been updated as well! The Halloween project will be pretty cool, but I can't say more yet :X
> 
> \- **Audible**
> 
> Thank you for reading!


	10. Maybe

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW: No content warnings today.  
> Today's Chapter Title: [Maybe](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lacq7aOIDec)

_Friday, 4/23_

To Akiza, the five days since the Palace fell had been… a mixed bag.

She was happy for Ann and Shiho, of course. The way Ann had talked about the other girl, Akiza would have assumed they were already dating. Ann’s confession that she hadn’t realized that she liked Shiho romantically until very recently had earned a beleaguered groan from Ryuji, and Akiza couldn’t help but laugh. He’d been around the two girls for a long time, and wasn’t shy about vocalizing how glad he was that they’d finally gotten together, if for no other reason than that he was tired of watching them both dance around the issue of their obvious crushes. That was one thing Akiza could give herself credit for; at least she _knew_ when she had a crush on someone, one-sided though it may be.

In that vein, the news about Ann and Shiho… Well, it hadn’t _dampened_ Akiza’s crush on Ann so much as _recontextualized_ it. She’d never had any illusions that Ann might actually reciprocate, of course; they’d barely known each other for a week, and normal people didn’t instantly develop an attraction to whoever showed them a scrap of affection. And, in a way, it was kind of nice to have that certainty. All perfectly sound, logical things.

The part that was troubling her was the fact that she still felt that distant pang in her heart, even knowing that Ann and Shiho had finally found each other. When she pictured the two of them together, doing something as simple as holding hands, she felt… well, _jealous_ wasn’t the word. She didn’t want to replace Shiho in that image, or deny her. But part of her couldn’t help but wish that she could enjoy the same thing Shiho did.

Shiho, it turned out, was incredibly friendly when not under the mental duress she’d been previously, as were her parents. Akiza had been afraid that Mr. and Mrs. Suzui wouldn’t want the criminal transfer student near their daughter, but Ann and Ryuji’s words were as good as gold to them. After school, they’d waited in the Suzuis’ apartment (Ann and Ryuji both had keys, apparently) while Shiho’s parents went to collect her from the hospital. And now, she and Shiho were next to each other on the couch, Ann on Shiho’s other side, Ryuji chatting with her parents in the kitchen.

“I’m sorry for… everything that happened the day we met.” Shiho toyed with a lock of her hair, looking down at her knees for a moment. “I wasn’t in the best mental shape. I wish you hadn’t seen meme break down like that.”

“You don’t have to apologize.” Akiza bit her lip for a moment, composing her words. Morgana had come with them, of course, and was currently curled up on Akiza’s lap. His presence always provided a kind of balm to her anxieties, even out in public where he tried to limit his speech. “I can empathize. You get in a bad way, and you stay quiet about it until something happens that makes it all spill out. I’ve had my share of moments like that. It’s better to let it out.” She turned her gaze upwards to Shiho with a little smile, one that was met by another.

“Thanks. That…” The other girl bit her lip for a moment, before cracking another small smile. “That means a lot. I wish it hadn’t happened to _any_ of us, but… It’s nice to have people who understand.” Akiza glanced down at Ann’s hand, fingers now twined with Shiho’s and resting on her leg. That little pang again, just to remind her.

“He hurt all four of us,” Ann said, and did not say his name. “We all know what it’s like, one way or another.”

Shiho nodded, and glanced through the doorway at Ryuji, still talking animatedly to her parents. There was something unidentifiable in her eye as she did, but it vanished quickly before she turned to Akiza again. “Mhm. Ryuji’s a part of this, too.” Her smile turned a little mischievous, then, before she continued. “Still, us girls have to stick together, right?”

 _Don’t cry,_ Akiza told herself. _Do not cry. Don’t you dare._ She could already feel that tell-tale warmth in her eyes that told her she was about to start. A quick glance over Shiho’s shoulder found Ann’s gaze, and she was smiling like she’d won the lottery, looking like _she_ was about to cry. Akiza managed to keep it down, though she was doubtless looking misty.

A thought occurred to her then. The three of them were together while Ryuji was still deep in conversation with Shiho’s parents. She could come out to Shiho right now. If she did, it would be the first time she’d come out to someone else on her own terms. Sojiro had been informed by her parents, and the less said about how Ann and Ryuji found out, the better. But this would be _her_ choice, her truth to share, and her life to take ownership of.

Akiza closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

“Suzui-san, there’s… something I want you to know.” When she opened her eyes again, the other girl was looking at her curiously. Over her shoulder, Ann smiled, a reassurance that Shiho would be fine with it too.

**Go forth, mon coeur.**

And she did. She spoke, quietly and calmly, and came out to Shiho.

“I trust you,” Akiza finished. “So I wanted to tell you.”

There was silence for a moment. Akiza felt herself hanging by a thread, stuck by Shiho’s gaze like a butterfly pinned to a board.

“Thanks,” Shiho began. “For telling me. That can’t have been easy.” She took a sip from the soda she’d been nursing since they sat down before speaking up. “It doesn’t make a difference to me,” she reassured, knocking a fist against her chest. “You know your heart better than anyone else. As far as I’m concerned, you’re just as much of a girl as me and Ann.” Akiza felt her heart beat twice, then Shiho’s face split into a downright impish grin, finger pointing past the can of soda. “And, I mean, if you can tell me _that_ , does that mean I can call you Akiza?”

Akiza let out one laugh, then another. She wiped the tears from her eyes with the back of her hand and nodded giddily. “O-Only if I get to call you Shiho.”

Of course, Ryuji chose _that_ moment to amble in, right as all three girls were getting weepy and giggling at each other.

“Did, uh.” He scratched the back of his head. “Did I miss somethin’?”

* * *

> _‘CRAP i forgot to give shiho the homework she missed’_
> 
>   
> 
> 
> _‘ryuji ur a dumbass’_
> 
>   
> 
> 
> _‘Is this news?’_
> 
>   
> 
> 
> _‘be nice to ryuji! he can bring them by whenever :D'_
> 
>   
> 
> 
> _‘shiho i missed ur aoucstic emojis’_
> 
>   
> 
> 
> _‘aoucstic’_
> 
>   
> 
> 
> _'aoucstic'_
> 
>   
> 
> 
> _‘Get his ass’_
> 
> _‘ACOUSTIC_  
>  _YALL SUCK’_

* * *

_Monday, 4/26_

Akiza had been cleaning the same mug for about a minute when Sojiro spoke up.

“Something on your mind?” He drawled.

The cafe was empty at the moment, which was probably for the best given that Haru was due to show up any minute. Apparently the narrow streets were totally unfamiliar to the other girl, so it was lucky that Yongen had so many landmarks to get by.

“Oh! Um,” she set the mug down finally and squeezed the rag instead. “I forgot to tell you, I invited someone over to the cafe, if that’s alright?”

“Kid, this is a business. I’m not going to complain about you advertising it to your friends, so long as they don’t make a mess.”

“Don’t worry, she would never.”

Sojiro arched an eyebrow, staying focused on wiping down the counter. “This friend of yours the one you asked about coffee for?”

“Um,” Akiza said gracefully. Julie hummed knowingly in her mind. “Yeah. Well, I wanted to learn anyway, if I’m gonna be here, but she liked what she tried a few days ago, and wanted to try it fresh.”

Sojiro didn’t comment on her pauses at all. “Hm. Glad to know kids these days can still appreciate a good brew then.”

The bell chimed, a startling noise in the silence that made Akiza jump slightly. She hadn’t even seen Haru walking in, dressed up in a plum peacoat and beret with a pink scarf. The brown-haired girl’s eyes brightened a little at seeing she’d found the right place. Akiza stood a little straighter before breathing, forcing herself to relax. It was just a get-together between two new friends, no need to be so tense.

“What a lovely cafe,” Haru chimed with a sweet smile. Sojiro hummed appreciatively.

“Have a seat, miss. Anything interest you?”

Haru’s eyes settled on Akiza. “Her, I suppose, but a fresh brew would be delightful.”

“Oh, so this is your friend,” Sojiro said, and Akiza’s eyes moved automatically because she had to keep up with everything somehow. “Well why don’t you make something for her and I’ll just supervise, then?”

“Sure, okay.” Akiza managed. _Sure, okay,_ she repeated to herself, and then turned to Haru with a natural smile, nodding. “Did you want to try the same thing you had a week ago?”

Haru nodded. “That sounds wonderful for a first visit.”

It was rapidly occurring to Akiza that there were a lot of assumptions going around between both Haru and Sojiro. The first was that everything would go well enough that Haru would visit again. The second was that Akiza could make coffee that good with guidance, after only a few days of lessons. The process itself was technically simple, but good coffee still took precision.

“That was the Guatemalan strictly hard bean, so…”

Haru watched patiently while Akiza walked herself through the steps, mumbling slightly while Sojiro supervised, giving advice for the angle of her pour and to keep her moving. Managing both at once, Sojiro introduced himself and Haru returned the gestures, asking some easy questions. Once again, the fashionable girl just wanted to go by ‘Haru’. Akiza wondered why.

It was just after the brew was complete that Sojiro’s phone buzzed in his apron pocket. He answered it with a suddenly very neutral expression.

“Hm? Wait, slow down, what is it you need?” He kept his voice low, and Akiza tried not to listen in too hard. Across the counter, Haru was doing the same, looking at her phone suddenly with a polite smile. “Okay, alright. I’ll get it and be by soon.” The wrinkles on his face were showing while he sighed. “Hey, kid.”

“Yes?” Akiza responded, brows raised.

“I’ve got an errand to run real quick. As far as I’m concerned the store’s closed ‘til I get back, but if you end up going out, be sure to lock up after yourself.” Sojiro brushed past, hanging up his apron and putting on a coat.

“You trust me with the store?” Akiza blurted. It was kind of a stupid question, since she already had the keys to the place.

“I trust you not to burn the whole place down,” he retorted with the barest hint of a grin. “Should I not?”

“No, um, you can leave it to me.” She did a little bow, also smiling.

“Good. Have fun, you two. Youth only lasts so long.”

And with that he was gone, leaving them alone.

Thinking on what little Sojiro and Haru had talked about, Haru still hadn’t said much about herself.

“It must be nice to be trusted with something like this.” Haru commented idly, fingertips resting against the fresh cup in front of her. Akiza had poured one for herself, still standing on the other side of the bar. If getting Haru to open up a little meant doing it first, then that was fine by her. Things had been going well, for a change.

“It’s a lot more than I ever got at home,” Akiza admitted. The word ‘home’ made her pause a second, not exactly bitter but already unfamiliar. “Not like there were a lot of chances for something like this back then anyways, though.”

“Oh?”

“All the businesses out in the country were pretty much just family-run. Or apprenticed out, I guess.” Akiza took a sip. It wasn’t as good as Sojiro’s, but making it herself brought a certain sense of satisfaction anyways.

Haru hummed, taking a sip herself. Her smile brightened. “I’ve always enjoyed places like this, whenever I could get away from things.”

“Do you have a lot to do outside of the gardening club?”

The girl’s brown eyes stayed on the coffee. “I have to tend to a lot of things. My father’s very busy, so I have to be home by certain times to share meals, among other things.”

Akiza noted the way Haru said ‘have to’ the same way she said ‘home’. “At least we can text each other about it?” She had her back turned, cleaning out the grinder, but made sure to throw a friendly look at the other girl.

“Oh, how true,” Haru seemed surprised. “I rather like the time we get to spend together, so I don’t know why I haven’t thought of texting more.” The words came out of Haru’s mouth shockingly easily for how important they felt to Akiza. She was grateful for the nudge Julie gave her to respond.

“That’s pretty easy to fix then. Here, I’ve got a conversation starter and everything.” Akiza finished putting everything back where it went and pulled her phone from a back pocket. A photo from yesterday was sent to Haru. The brown-haired girl’s eyes lit up, giggling when it arrived. Akiza had managed to stack twenty-six napkins on top of Morgana in the booth after he’d fallen asleep while she studied.

“Was he upset?” Haru asked, tittering behind beautifully painted nails.

“Just a little grumpy,” Akiza chuckled. “He’s been out most of today, actually - didn’t want to come with me to school, either. Said he had-- Er, I guess he had something to do?” She rubbed the back of her neck. _God,_ what a weird slip it would’ve been to quote the not-cat directly.

“He _does_ seem like quite the busy-body, what with the little suit he wears.” Haru joked.

“White gloves and all,” Akiza nodded.

The other girl’s expression fell at the sound of her phone ringing. It was a three note tone, short and harsh. “Excuse me,” She unseated herself, walking away to take it, quieting to a whisper. Akiza debated on whether or not to listen in this time, only to find curiosity winning out. She pretended to focus on her own phone, straining her hearing until it felt like something sort of… popped. The world was in black and white again, meshes of grey and nothing else, except for Haru, who was lit up by blue now. And she could hear the conversation perfectly. _This again…?_

The ‘Third Eye’, Igor had called it. At least it was somewhere quiet this time.

“Yes,” Haru confirmed. “I’m with someone right now. I will inform you when I am finished and we can meet then.”

“That’s not good enough,” A man’s voice, impatient. “I’ve already sent the car around. You’ll be joining me early tonight. We need to share plans, after all.” The voice turned up into something unkind at the end, more than the vocal equivalent of turning a nose up. _Her father? He sounds old enough._

“I will listen to you when--” Haru almost hissed, but stopped, grip tightening. “... I will listen to what you have to say. Tell me where to go to be picked up.”

“That’s more like it,” the voice responded, relaxing. “I’ll text you the street.”

Haru hung up without another word. Akiza closed her eyes and shook her head, dismissing the Third Eye with some concentration. When she opened her eyes, the brown-haired girl was the one looking at _her_ with concern. “Are you alright?”

Akiza blinked and realized she’d been gripping the countertop hard. “Oh, I’m fine. Is everything okay?”

“I have to return home sooner than expected,” Haru commented, avoiding the question. “I’m sorry to have to cut this short. Maybe we can meet again next week? Your neighborhood is very nice.”

Akiza barely had to force the smile. “That sounds great. We could meet anywhere though, it doesn’t have to be here.”

Haru smiled sweetly. “I think I like it here just fine. We’ll figure something out, alright?” And got up from her seat. “Thank you for the coffee, it was wonderful.”

“Of course,” Akiza leaned forward a little, voice lowering. “Just let me know if there’s anything I can do to help you, alright? I’ll bring some more coffee to school tomorrow.”

The girl’s brown eyes went soft and she nodded, leaving through the door.

Akiza watched Haru go for as long as she could, her image on the other side of the window somewhat obscured by all the tall or hanging plants. It felt like the sort of thing she might have wanted to see in a painting, the way the foliage let her focus in on the conflict written across the other girl’s face, soft pastels on the faded red brick behind her. And then she was gone.

Nodding to herself, Akiza resolved to text Haru another cat picture in half an hour. She looked like she could use a few.

* * *

_Tuesday, 4/27_

After another after-school visit to Shiho’s apartment with the girls, Ryuji had gone back to the apartment he’d lived in his whole life, checked to make sure his mom was still at work, sat down on the floor of his bedroom, and cried.

Something about seeing Shiho and Ann and Akiza together, smiling and laughing and _happy_ had made it all click for him. They’d done something _real_. One way or another, Kamoshida would never hurt anyone again. His fellow thieves had helped him do what he’d failed to a year beforehand. And the gravity of that hit him like a cannonball to the chest.

He’d kept a lid on it for the party, at least. The ex-runner had already cried in front of Akiza and Ann once, and they didn’t need to see that again. This time was different, though, hot tears rolling down his cheeks over a delirious, joyful smile.

Ryuji had missed Ann and Shiho _so much_ in their year apart. He hadn’t truly understood how much he depended on them in middle school, when it was just the three of them against the world. And in high school, he hadn’t grasped the truth of how much it hurt to see them suffer. The ache had just become a part of him, the same way his leg and its busted limitations had. And then Akiza had appeared in his life and torn open the scars he’d learned to ignore almost without trying.

This was the kind of shit he had on his mind all the time, especially now that the Palace had collapsed. Forced to sit and wait to see if the change of heart had worked, Ryuji was tempted to fall back to hold habits. Well, no, not _really_. He had Shiho and Ann again, and now Akiza too. It would’ve been so easy to start distancing himself again, going straight home after school and trying to keep other people away from his messes. But he couldn’t help remembering what Akiza had said that night at the ramen place.

 _This isn’t any of our faults,_ she’d said. _He did this to us._

He couldn’t fight the little warmth that rose to his cheeks when he thought back to that night. Despite what they’d talked about at first, their conversation once the food arrived was one of the bright spots of his recent memories. That was the first time he’d seen Akiza smile-- really, _really_ smile-- and god, he couldn’t help but want to see it again.

His feet carried him to Shiho’s door, the route long since engraved into his memory, and she answered seconds after he rang the doorbell.

“Oh, Ryuji! I didn’t know you were coming.” Shiho was already dressed to relax for the evening, by the looks; Ann’s white hoodie and a pair of baggy sweatpants. “Come in, I was just about to make some popcorn. I’m binging some old mecha anime I found online, if you wanna hang out?”

“Yeah,” Ryuji said, before he could remind himself that he’d come here for a reason. _Dumbass,_ he thought as he toed his shoes off and followed her into the kitchen. “Your parents home?”

“Nah. They’re at a meeting with Kobayakawa.” She giggled a little bit, the energy pricking Ryuji’s mouth up into a grin. “Dad’s probably gonna rip his head off.”

He scoffed, waving a hand as he leaned against the table. “No way, too much neck flab. He’d never be able to grab on.” The laughter that rang out from Shiho was almost musical, and it struck Ryuji then that her party was the first time in something like two years that he’d heard the sound.

“So, what’s up? You finally here to drop off my homework? Or are you trying to sabotage my grades so you’ll finally beat me?” The teasing lilt in her voice pushed a smile onto his face immediately.

“Shaddup!” Ryuji shot back defensively. “I was helpin’ my Mom with some errands, FYI. Besides, I ain’t tryin’ to compete on grades anymore. Ain’t my thing.”

“Mmm,” Shiho mused. “Definitely not because you got sick of me kicking your ass.”

They laughed, and the conversation slipped into a comfortable silence as Shiho busied herself with the popcorn, with Ryuji pulling his phone out to check the group chat. No news on Kamoshida yet, just the vague dread of that combined with upcoming exams. There were some ideas thrown around for things the three (or four, counting Shiho) could do for fun, but now that the high of Shiho’s return was starting to die down, there wasn’t much heart in it. _Hard to have fun while we’re waitin’ to get expelled,_ Ryuji mused.

He was jerked out of his thoughts after a few minutes as Shiho grabbed him by the wrist, pulling him into the living room and onto the couch despite his quick yelp of surprise. She flopped down next to him, just a hair away from sitting _against_ him, and passed him a soda. “I’m only a few episodes in,” she explained as she leaned forward to fiddle with her laptop. “The plot’s a little fuzzy, but the mechas are cool and the music is good.” Shiho sat back after a moment, offering Ryuji one earbud while putting the other in herself.

“Sure, yeah.” He put the earbud in, plucking at a few pieces of popcorn while the opening theme song played. Glancing sidelong at Shiho, the little smile on her face set his anxious heart at ease a bit.

The episodes ticked by in relative silence, interrupted by some riffs on the writing and pauses for bathroom breaks. Halfway through yet another tirade from the protagonist on the futility of war, Ryuji swallowed his fear (and his soda).

“Hey, can I, uh,” he started, tongue fumbling to hammer his thoughts into words. “Can I ask you somethin’?”

Shiho’s gaze flicked over to him, eyebrows perking just slightly as she reached over to pause the episode. “Yeah, what’s up?”

“You… you and Ann, right?” _Goddamnit, nice job, dumbass. Great way to start._

 **Steady, lad.** Kidd’s voice rumbled in his head.

“I-I mean, you’re the only couple I know, and Ann would tease the hell out of me if I tried to talk to her about this shit, and--” Words just kept tumbling out of his mouth, venting his stream of consciousness, until Shiho stopped him with a hand on his arm.

“Dude, relax,” she said, and somehow that actually helped. “What are you trying to say? You need romantic advice?” She couldn’t help but smile as Ryuji buried his face in his hands, groaning what sounded like _yes_. “I hate to break it to you man, but me and Ann have been together for, like, a week. Dunno how much help I can be.”

“Y’ain’t makin’ fun of me, that’s a good start.” He looked up, grinning wryly, and took a breath before he continued. “I don’t even know if that’s what I’m feelin’. Like, what’s it feel like? With Ann, I mean. To _like_ someone like that?”

Shiho’s eyes flicked away, lit by the glow of the laptop screen reflected in them. Knees pulled close to her chest, she rested her chin on her hands, sleeves of her hoodie pulled up to cover them. She breathed in, and the look on her face was unmistakably fond.

“It’s…” She paused, drumming her fingers lightly. “She makes me feel safe. Like-- okay, this is cheesy-- like my heart would be safer with her than with me, y’know? Like I could tell her anything, trust her with anything, and she’d rather die than hurt me, even accidentally.”

Ryuji shifted slightly in his seat.

“Like… like she just _gets_ you? A-and just bein’ around her relaxes you?” He hazarded carefully, trying to put words to the emotions, the phantom sensations of arms around him.

Shiho nodded, eyes still pointed at the laptop without really looking at it. “Like she’s this immovable rock that you know you can lean on, but you also wanna _be_ that rock for her.”

“...Fuck,” Ryuji mumbled, dragging his hands down his face. He hunched over, trying to measure his breathing. One leg bounced restlessly as he thought, _Sh_ _it, that all checks out._ “God, but there’s no way she’d go for someone like me…”

“Um, Ryuji?” Shiho’s voice was a little quiet, in a way that set Ryuji’s nerves on edge. He looked up from his crumpled position, finding Shiho meeting his gaze warily. “I’m not… I’m not gonna give you advice on how to ask out my girlfriend.”

There was a pause, and then Kidd’s deep, hearty laughter roared in his head.

“N-n-no!” Ryuji shouted, and Shiho’s slight flinch was a sharp reminder to moderate his volume. “No, no way, it’s not like that, I was talkin’ about Akiza!” He slumped back on the couch, suddenly exhausted. “I was thinkin’ she and Ann had feelings for each other, but now you ‘n Ann are together, so it ain’t that, but there’s this other mystery girl that she might be crushin’ on, and I don’t even know if she _likes_ guys--”

“Dude, calm down!” Shiho’s hand on his shoulder was shaky, but as he turned his head, Ryuji was relieved to see her doubled over in laughter. “I’m sorry,” she started after a moment, catching her breath. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have accused you there. You’d never do something like that.”

“Yeah, I don’t…” _Breathe, you idiot._ “I mean, I could see myself likin’ Ann, but you ‘n her have been buildin’ up to this since middle school. I ain’t gonna get between that.” He shoved some popcorn in his mouth hastily before he continued. “Akiza’s just so damn _skittish_ sometimes, y’know? Like, I get why. Or at least, part of why. Y’know, with all her… stuff.” He made a circular motion with his hand, and Shiho nodded. “Even if I could work up the guts to tell her, I feel like I’d just scare her off, y’know? It’s like ya said earlier, with the whole ‘rock’ thing. She keeps bein’ there for me, and I wanna be there for her. I want her to feel safe.”

“That makes sense.” Shiho leaned back as well, stretching her arms over her head. “I think you’ve gotta give it some more time, let her get used to having you around. From what she told me, having friends is kind of a new thing for her. Once she’s more comfortable, I think you can give it a shot.”

“Right. Okay. Yeah, okay.” His restless leg stilled as he calmed himself. _Give it time. She ain’t goin’ anywhere._ “Uh, thanks,” he said after a moment. “Sorry for throwin’ all that at you.”

“No problem,” Shiho responded easily. “I figure this is repayment for having to watch me crush on Ann without realizing for so long. I’ll be your wingwoman.” She held up her left hand in a loose fist, smiling at him. “I got you, man.”

Ryuji let out a breathy laugh, raising his right hand to bump against hers. “Thanks, Shiho. I, uh... really missed you.”

She paused for a moment, seemingly caught off guard. “I… I missed you too,” she admitted, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. Ryuji could’ve sworn he saw something click into place behind Shiho’s eyes, then. He was pretty confident Akiza could have figured out what it was, but he wasn’t that perceptive. Shiho looked down at the laptop again for a moment. “And, for what it’s worth,” she added, turning back to look at him with an odd smile. “I think she’d be lucky to have you.”

“Thanks,” he murmured. “That means a lot.”

They settled back into the calm relative-quiet of binge-watching then, episodes ticking by as the cover of night fell over Tokyo outside. When Shiho’s parents returned, her mother shushed her father, the pair tiptoeing in so as not to wake the sleeping teens, leaning against each other on the couch.

* * *

_Friday, 4/30_

As the sun started to set on Yongen-Jaya, Sojiro sent Akiza a text that he’d be out late running errands and asking her to lock up the cafe. Dutifully, she closed up shop, eventually laying out some materials for the ever-looming midterms, occasionally texting Haru cat memes on a regular schedule and the occasional soft-ball question about plants or whatever came to mind, just to help. Her responses were sporadic, but written in the same elegant tone she spoke with. It was pretty cute, Akiza lamented.

Whenever her mind wasn’t occupied with what to say or which picture would get the most flowery response, she was also studying. The materials for history were spread out haphazardly across a booth table. Taking up so much space would’ve made her conscious normally, but for now she had the entire cafe to herself.

Akiza clicked her pen in and out, over and over. The sentiment of being by herself in the cafe like this hadn’t really set in before today. There was money behind the counter, more than either of her parents ever would have trusted her with alone. As far as she knew, the cafe was Sojiro’s livelihood. But she was there too, living in it, right there with the wood polish and coffee and old-as-dirt TV. Whatever reason Sojiro had for keeping her out of his home made her curious, sure, but it felt significant in a different way that she’d been allowed to stay here alone, too.

She couldn’t be sure exactly what the feeling was that passed through her. It was unfamiliar, and made her arms a little unsteady. It was just distracting enough that she almost didn’t notice the tapping sound at the cafe’s front door, barely louder than the pen clicking. It was dark out already, making the white fluff and small blue eyes outside stand out even more.

“Morgana…?” Akiza got up to unlock the door and let the stray in, who moved past her legs, rubbing against them along the way before jumping onto a booth table. She was starting to notice he tried to be taller whenever something important came up. “Hey, everything okay?”

“Sort of,” Morgana paused, looking sort of bashful. “Except… not really. I’ve got to come clean about something.”

“Oh?” Akiza tried not to let the nervousness through, and failed, holding onto her arms. What could Morgana possibly have to hide? Or worse, have been lying about? Did something go wrong with the change of heart? Akiza swallowed, trying not to spiral on nothing.

Morgana must have noticed, because he tilted his head, commiseratory. “Don’t worry, it’s got nothing to do with everything we’ve done together so far. Or, almost nothing.”

“Okay…” She managed to nod. “So what is it?”

“I don’t want to talk about it here,” his tail swished. “There’s not enough room to move around, I need to walk this out.” He hopped down to the door again. “You up for a moonlit stroll?”

Akiza snorted at the idea of a cat asking for that sort of thing. “Yeah, lemme get my hoodie and we’ll head out, alright?” She began towards the stairs before looking back to the pacing not-a-cat, and offered a half-smile. “Hey. We’ve all heard a few things about each other, and we’re all still together. Whatever it is…” she breathed. “It’ll probably be fine, right?”

Morgana perked up. “Yeah. Thieves have to stick together, after all.”

“A daring duelist and a dashing rogue.” Akiza said with a smile.

****////****

Yongen-Jaya wasn’t exactly a small neighborhood, but compared to the way everything stretched out in her hometown, it _felt_ small. The view above, little cutouts of stars and white light blotted out by black clouds and bright yellow from whatever house lights were still on, was a far-cry from the open land of home. _‘Home’_ rolled around in her head again, not quite settling. The old farmlands and hills she knew were miles away now, but they hadn’t quite shaken from her mind yet. Maybe they weren’t supposed to. It was the closest thing she’d had to a good place, when she was by herself. But, still, it had never _really_ been a home.

That house had never been meant for her.

Morgana meowed beside her, perched precariously on top of a long bench. Akiza realized she’d stopped walking.

“Are you going to be able to listen?” He asked. “This is really important.”

“Yeah, sorry, just a lot on my mind.”

“No wonder,” Morgana mewled. “For what it’s worth, I’m pretty positive things went well. What happened with him-- that must have been a change of heart.” The not-a-cat had picked up on how they never actually said the bastard’s name out loud.

Akiza folded her hands into the hoodie’s pockets, keeping pace again. There wasn’t anyone around, so it’s not like anyone would see her talking to a cat. For some reason or another, people tended to go to sleep pretty early in Yongen-Jaya. There were a lot of older people, she supposed.

“Alright. I’m listening.”

Morgana stared at her for a bit, then looked ahead and continued. “Okay, so… you know I have memories missing. But between when my memory starts and when I met you, I was working in the Metaverse. Specifically, in a place called Mementos.”

“Is that a Palace?”

“In a sense. Mementos is _everyone’s_ Palace, before their cognition gets twisted enough to split off from the collective unconscious. Like a Palace, it’s full of Shadows, and the danger increases the deeper you get. I was planning to introduce you to it at some point, but… it might be alright so long as we’re careful.”

Akiza nodded. She wasn’t sure she fully understood this Mementos place yet, but she figured that wasn’t actually what Morgana wanted to talk about, and he’d answer questions later.

“And…” he continued. “I used to work with someone else. Another Persona-user. I was going to bring it up earlier, but there wasn’t really a good time.”

“Oh, so…” Akiza chewed her lip in thought. Of _course_ there could be other Persona-users. It hadn’t occurred to her until just now, but Igor’s “game” was front and center in her mind. Were the other players Persona-users too, or just enemies like Kamoshida? Could a Persona-user even _be_ an enemy? “...Hold on, you _used_ to work with him? What happened before we found you?”

“It was smarter to work together, since we were both in Mementos anyway.” Morgana hopped up onto one of the chest-high walls, walking over the gates of the houses they passed. “But his goals diverged from mine. I wanted to investigate Palaces to confirm my theory, but I overestimated myself and got caught.” He half-sighed. “I should’ve known better after seeing him get in way over his head so often.”

“And… what, he never tried to free you?”

Morgana’s head drooped. “I didn’t tell him what I was doing.”

Akiza frowned. “Oh.”

“Yeah, oh. Neither of us really knew how to cooperate.” He slowed a bit. “I’ve been trying to find him again, with no luck. Honestly, I’m starting to get worried that… that something might have happened to him, since I wasn’t around. He didn’t have any healing magic.”

Akiza took that in. That explained Morgana’s occasional absences, then. He clearly wanted to find this person again, but had chosen to stick with her for some reason. “Why not tell us? Maybe we could’ve helped.”

The not-cat shook his head. “We’d just met, and I didn’t want you to think I wasn’t committed to defeating Kamoshida. And… he never actually told me his name. I tried to find him in the real world, but it never worked. He was determined that we only meet in the Metaverse.”

In her hoodie pocket, Akiza drummed her fingers against her palm. “...Why tell us this now?”

“Because, there’s a chance we could run into him again.” Morgana said. “And if we do… I’m not sure what will happen. He was a really single-minded person, and I… I don’t know how he’ll react to finding out there’s a whole team of Persona-users running around.”

That sentence felt heavy in Akiza’s ears, and she wondered what to say. She considered reaching out to pet Morgana for a moment, but reasoned that right now, he probably just wanted to feel like a friend.

“It sounds like he was important to you,” she eventually began. “What was he like?”

Morgana’s marble-blue eyes met hers, and he spun himself around on the wall, coming to a rest. “He almost never talked about himself. And he had a brutal way about him. In combat, in allegiances. But I always had a feeling he chose to act that way. Regardless, working with him was far better than working alone. I just wish he had told me what he was looking for, so I could find him again.”

And, quieter, he added, “I don’t even know what _I’m_ looking for…”

Akiza waited before saying, “We’ll help you find him.” She gestured with one hand. “I mean, I can’t speak for the others, obviously, but if he’s still important to you, I know Ryuji and Ann will want to help too.”

Morgana tilted his head, eyes concerned. “It’ll be dangerous, you know.”

“Like what we’ve been doing wasn’t already?” Akiza grinned.

“Well, it’ll be _more_ dangerous,” he said with a chuckle. “But if you want to help, I won’t keep you away.”

“We’ll add it to our deal.” She extended her hand, and Morgana put his paw onto it. They shook before she spoke again. Really, there were probably a good half-dozen questions she should’ve asked first, but she wanted to place some faith in her friend. Shaking on it felt the same way being alone in the cafe had, or sitting with the other Thieves in a safe room. She still didn’t know quite what that was, only that it was starting to become familiar. “Just make sure to let someone know if you’re headed there before going off again, alright? I don’t want to lose you.”

“Yeah,” he flicked his ears, looking away for a moment. “I’m _definitely_ not making that mistake again.”

Akiza thought for a moment. “Oh, I know the masks keep you from being able to really recognize people, but he must have at least used a code name, right?”

Morgana nodded, looking proud. “He called himself Ace.”

* * *

_Monday, 5/2_

The day of Akiza’s expulsion arrived.

Morgana’s reassurances that the change of heart had worked did little to soothe her nerves, even as Kawakami informed the class that there was an assembly that morning.

“Probably something about why Kamoshida’s been gone for so long,” Ann reasoned as they filed into the gym, Ryuji and Mishima alongside them. “Two weeks is a long time for someone as well-known as him to be gone.”

“Are they gonna expel us? Do they do that in an assembly like this?” Mishima’s fretting was only amplifying Akiza’s fright, but rationally, he had even less reason to be confident than they did, given his lack of knowledge about the Palace.

The assembly began on time, Kobayakawa sweating under the stage lights as he began to speak. Before he could even get into the actual _point_ of the assembly, however, there was a crash as the far door to the gym was flung open.

Heads turned, and shocked gasps filled the room as a dejected, defeated, and sullen Kamoshida stood hunched over in the doorway. Four thieves fought down wicked grins as he opened his mouth to speak.

“I have been… reborn.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the break! I'm about to graduate from college so things have been ramping up for me. That's nearly over though, so I hope to have the next chapter out by the end of the month at latest. This was a fun chapter to write, and huge shoutouts as always to Turandot for helping us dial everything in!
> 
> \- **Rabbit**
> 
> Hello again! As usual, not much to say that hasn't already been said. The dialogue was a lot of fun this time around. The Shiho icon in this chapter comes courtesy of... [me, actually](https://audibleellipsis.tumblr.com/post/636703661235601408/hey-i-wasnt-able-to-find-a-p5-shiho-texting-icon). Good practice for the near future, probably :)
> 
> \- **Audible**
> 
> Thank you for reading!


	11. O Sleeper

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content Warning: None today  
> Today's Chapter Title: [O Sleeper](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZ_-AQqIXqQ)

_Monday, 5/2_

When Kamoshida was finally escorted from the podium, Akiza had expected to feel a lot better than she did. There was relief, certainly, but it wasn’t the full-bodied, shoulder-sagging, soul-lifting catharsis she’d bought into. Together the four of them had bled, sweat, and cried to ensure that Kamoshida would be forced to face his sins, but there was still something unpleasant lingering in the pit of her stomach.

Maybe it had to do with the way some of the other students had come up to Ann afterwards, making breathless apologies that felt like nothing more than platitudes. _Knowing_ how many people had been complicit in what was happening felt… bad, or wrong, or _something_. _They’re all cowards,_ she thought as she watched the teachers try in vain to corral the students out of the gym. _Every single teacher who let students suffer rather than sticking their own necks out._ Not everyone had the same means to make an impact they did, and almost all of them were victims in their own ways too, but the fact that anyone-- _everyone_ could have done something to reach out and make a difference long before the day Shiho came up to the roof made her…

Sad.

A couple boys came up to Ryuji, nowhere near the amount that had apologized to Ann, but it was better than nothing. Apparently they’d been members of the old track team. Not everyone on the old team shared their sympathies, but Ryuji seemed happy to be connecting with the two of them again anyways. Ann and Ryuji spoke softly about everything not far away.

It all made a single question spin in her mind.

Was this enough?

“So, you guys did it, huh?” Someone spoke, jumping Akiza from her thoughts.

“Oh, Mishima,” she turned. “What are you talking about?”

“It was you three, right? You’re the ones that made Kamoshida confess?”

Akiza tensed up. As close to all this as Mishima was, surely it wouldn’t be wise to have more people know about their involvement than necessary. With or without evidence, blackmail accusations could _not_ be allowed to surface. _It’s fine,_ she reasoned. _Just deflect and it’ll be fine. He’ll never--_

“Hahaha, what do you mean?” Ann sidled in. “W-we don’t know anything about that!” Her stilted lying voice only made Akiza tense up more.

_Fuck._

Ryuji was next up to the plate, of course. “Yeah, no way! And even if it _was_ us, s’not like we’d just go around sayin’ so.”

“Well,” Akiza began, trying desperately to salvage the scraps of this deception, before being thwarted by Morgana poking his head out of the bag.

“Are you two _kidding me?_ ” He yowled furiously, fixing the blondes with legendary stink-eyes before Akiza could scramble to shove him back in the bag. “Now there’s no _way_ he doesn’t… suspect… us…” The feline trailed off as his head turned, finally realizing that Mishima was still watching them, now with an indescribable expression

**Merde.**

“S-so, um,” Mishima stammered. All present tried to find their footings again as murmurs of the rumored cat began to circulate the crowd. Morgana ducked back into the bag, leaving Akiza to fumble together an explanation for… all of _that._

“That’s,” she began, pausing to try to regain her composure. “That’s none of your business.” _God, you couldn’t come up with ANYTHING better?_

“Um, don’t worry! Whoever the Phantom Thieves are, they did the right thing, and I think they’re really good people! I just, well, it’s such a big deal, and it means he can’t hurt anybody again, y’know?” He spoke hurriedly, like he was trying to get it all out before he could stop himself. The bluff was transparent, but his nervous little knowing smile set Akiza’s mind at ease a bit. _He’s sharper than I gave him credit for,_ she thought as she returned the gesture.

“Yeah,” Ryuji agreed from next to her. “Good to have that shithead gone.”

It wouldn’t undo the damage he’d done, but he was gone. Akiza glanced at Ryuji for a moment, chewing the inside of her lip before looking away. “Yeah. It’s a good thing.”

“It is.” Mishima surprised her with the firmness that appeared in his voice. “I know that-- I mean… I’m just one of the people he hurt. And maybe others had it worse, but there’s a lot of people that’ll be able to breathe easier now. Not just at school, either. Someone like that… we can’t have been the only ones he was hurting. There must’ve been others outside Shujin.

The thought gave Akiza pause. She’d been so absorbed in Ryuji, Ann, Shiho, Mishima-- in the students that always had something to say and the teachers that failed to say anything. But every day, just on the commute to school, there were so many people, all affected to some degree by people just like him. How many people had been ground beneath Kamoshida’s heel elsewhere, now free to grow again thanks to what they’d done? How many lives had they touched through with their actions?

“Yeah…” she agreed after a moment. “Yeah, you’re right. Thanks, Mishima.” she held up a fist, and he bumped his against it with the beginnings of a real smile. The memory of that day and the aftermath grew a little less sharp in her mind.

**Your circle grows, ma chérie. Treasure them.**

“By the way, Takamaki-san? Do you know when Suzui is coming back?” Mishima spoke up again, turning to face Ann fully. “I was hoping I could talk to her about… uh, stuff that happened. If she’d be okay with that.”

Ann deflated slightly. “Oh. Shiho’s, um. She’s actually…” Akiza watched the other girl pause, breathe, and release, the same way she herself did so often. “She’s actually transferring to another school in Tokyo.”

“Wait, what!?” Ryuji was quick to jump in. “Since when?”

“A couple days ago.” Ann twirled a ponytail between her fingers, looking somewhere off to the side. “Her parents were worried there’d be too much baggage here, and she agreed.”

A little silence fell over the group. Shiho would still be in Tokyo, at least, so they’d be able to see her. And Ann wouldn’t have to worry about her girlfriend moving away so soon after getting together, thank god

Mishima tapped his toe on the polished gym floor, seemingly lost in thought. “Yeah, that… that makes sense. I can’t blame her for wanting to get away from all that stuff.”

“I’m gonna see her later,” Ann began. “So I can give her your number if you want.” Mishima seemed happy with that, and as the teachers finally moved to usher them out of the gym, he spoke in a low voice so that only Akiza could hear him.

“The Phantom Thieves are gonna be something people can believe in. I just know it. So I’m gonna do my part too, okay? I have to do something as thanks, after all.” He leaned back with a proud grin on his face, standing so much taller than the boy she’d seen on her first day, no longer dark with bruises or looking to disappear.

“Just stay safe, alright?” Despite her words, Akiza couldn’t help but match his grin.

Mishima only nodded.

Whatever he was planning, she _was_ curious.

* * *

Classes continued as usual after that, though the teachers and students alike were unfocused at best. The slow unquiet of an open secret laid bare permeated Shujin. Students traded confessions and theories that rattled off Akiza’s ears as the day crawled onward. Every now and then she’d open the Third Eye, just to practice, and hear a hushed _I’m so glad he’s gone,_ and smile faintly.

 **You’ve done well, ma chérie,** Julie began during an interminable history lecture. **Your efforts have borne fruit, and it tastes all the sweeter for the pain he inflicted upon you.**

True, Akiza surmised. _I wasn’t sure at first, but I can’t wait to see his face on the news. Fucker got what was coming to him._

**How are you feeling?**

Something about the question gave Akiza pause, stalling the scritch-scratch of pencil on paper for a moment. _Shouldn’t you know that already?_

**You cannot parry me away every time, mon coeur. I have a sense of your emotions, but I would prefer to converse as comrades. I do not intend to pry into your heart without your consent.**

_Mmm,_ Akiza thought. The exact mechanics of her connection to her Persona still eluded her. Whether Julie was the actual spirit of a real person, or a reflection of herself, or both, the contract that they shared clearly ran deep. _I guess I just… I don’t know._ The dark-haired girl huffed, blowing a stray lock of hair from her face.

**Take your time, if you must.**

_It almost doesn’t feel real, you know? Like, I know he hurt me, a lot. But only a couple times. Ann and Ryuji and Shiho and everyone else have been dealing with him for so long, and they keep acting like they’re okay, but I_ know _they’re not._

**Do not brush aside your own hurts. Infrequence does not negate severity.**

_I don’t know what you mean_ , she lied.

**You do. Your scars are not all healed, and you refuse to give them the care they require to mend.**

…

**Talk to them, ma chérie. They _will_ listen, and they _will_ care. Do you trust them?**

Akiza looked up, saw the back of Ann’s head, the blonde hunched over slightly and scribbling away in her notebook. Under her desk, she felt Morgana’s soft fur between her fingers.

_… I do._

* * *

**Akiza**

You guys doing anything after school?

**Ryuji**

nah

**Ann**

i was gonna tell shiho abt the confession and stuff

**Ann**

actually you two should come to that

**Akiza**

Are you sure?

**Ryuji**

i dont wanna like intrude on u 2

**Ann**

itll be fine, shiho loves you guys! we can go to my house and pick her up on the way

**Akiza**

Alright, as long as it's okay. i actually did wanna have like, a debrief i guess

**Ryuji**

ya sounds good

**Akiza**

A lot of stuff happened and i wanna check in and make sure everyone's okay

**Akiza**

Ryuji how dare you interrupt my texts

**Ryuji**

how dare u double text while im clearly typin

**Ann**

dorks!!!

* * *

Ann’s home was a bit surprising. The Jiyugaoka district was known for its more Western-style homes, and it made a certain kind of sense that her parents would want to settle into something familiar in a place that wasn’t.

The way it stretched out inside, all open floors with a view into whatever room was adjacent, could have easily made the space feel cold, or empty. The decor itself was all minimalist - Ann’s parents, she explained, always had to stay on top of current trends wherever they went. Ann, however, was anything but minimalistic, and so the whole central living space was decorated with little touches of humanity.

Whatever nooks the weird shelving units left unfilled, she occupied with trinkets, kitschy decorations with phrases in a few different languages, and a number of souvenirs. Framed photos hung along the walls, of her parents, of Ryuji and Shiho, and of landscapes with their origins written in white marker. The stairs that led up to a landing on the second floor (and the bedrooms, Ann added) even had a string of soft lights wound around the railing.

In a space that must have once been lifeless and empty, Ann had filled it however she could. Being invited into the space, and being allowed to be a part of it, made Akiza smile.

She would have to give Ann a present to add to it.

“You’ve been to Niagara Falls?” Ryuji asked. Shiho was currently resting her head on Ann’s shoulder, who turned her own head to answer. Shiho cut in first.

“It’s actually pronounced ‘Nia- _gara_ ’ falls.”

“Wha-- for real?”

“Haha, no!” Shiho snorted. Ann rolled her eyes, then pushed Shiho off gently.

“Yeah. It’s probably one of the loudest things I’ve ever heard,” Ann came closer, putting a hand on her chin. “I don’t know exactly why, but something about all the water actually makes it really easy to see rainbows there in the day.”

Morgana padded back and forth from atop the long couch. “It’s just a big waterfall, though, right? I don’t see what’s so special about it.”

“The photo probably doesn’t do it justice,” Akiza replied. “And besides, not all of us have had the privilege of seeing things as crazy as you probably have in the, uh… the Metaverse.” Talking openly about something so strange and unbelievable with someone who hadn’t seen it themselves yet felt a little weird.

_… “Yet?” Would Shiho even want to see something like that?_

“Crazy doesn’t mean pretty,” Morgana flicked his ears, puffing up a bit. “Though I _have_ managed to get out of some pretty intense situations.”

“Just not a certain jail cell,” Ryuji joked. Morgana stuck out his tongue.

“Uh, so,” Shiho faced them with a slightly baffled expression, walking until her face was closer to Morgana’s. “The cat talks for real? That’s-- you’re not punking me? You’re actually having a conversation with him?”

Almost automatically, Morgana yowled. “I am not a cat!”

“He’s not a cat,” Akiza translated, amused. “And no, we’re not punking you. We’re really having a conversation with him.”

“So what is he?” Shiho asked.

“He’s, um… not a cat?” Ann said. Morgana nodded.

“So why is he like one now?” Shiho asked, tilting her head. “God, what would I even do if I got turned into a cat?”

“Sleep on top of me, probably,” Ann said without thinking. Then she blinked. Shiho and Ann blushed, and Ryuji suddenly became very interested in a Russian nesting doll painted to look like the statue of liberty. Akiza cleared her throat.

“So, um. I wanted to check in with everybody, now that it’s all over. Just to make sure we’re all doing okay, and fill Shiho in on any details she’s missing.” Ann gestured to the seats available, and they each took a spot; Shiho was tucked against Ann on the couch, while Akiza and Ryuji chose the chairs facing them.

“I think I _mostly_ get it.” Shiho adjusted her position, settling deeper into the crook of Ann’s side. The blonde put an arm around Shiho’s shoulders almost protectively as she continued. “You jumped into his head--”

“Heart!”

“Morgana says ‘heart’,” Akiza relayed.

“--Into his _heart,_ and stopped him from wanting to do bad things, and that made him confess.”

“That’s pretty much how it went.” Ann brushed a strand of hair aside with her free hand. “His Shadow-- the, uh, version of him inside his heart-- was like, how he saw himself. So making the Shadow realize that what it did was wrong caused his real self to realize it too.”

“By stealing this from his Palace,” Akiza clarified. She took the medal out of her bag where it had sat since the heist. “Hence the _Phantom Thieves_ thing. It basically means that his distortion stemmed from his Olympic win.”

“Couldn’t let his glory days go.” Ryuji shrugged out of his uniform jacket, slinging it over the back of his chair. “Stupid asshole took it out on us.”

“So, how are we all holding up?” Akiza’s hand found Morgana’s back, as it so often did, soft fur passing under her fingers and calming her with the sensation. “It’s been a really stressful couple weeks for everyone. Um, I can go first, I guess.” She took a deep breath as the others turned their eyes to her, marshalling her thoughts into words.

 _Leadership means forging the path,_ she thought. The significance of being the leader of the Thieves, of carrying that responsibility, was not lost on her. Helping them be okay meant laying herself bare too.

“I’m really happy you guys are supportive of, y’know, me,” Akiza began, gesturing to herself. The others nodded, and she continued. “It means so, so much. Like, more than I can really say. But… when I found out I was moving to Tokyo, and I decided that I was going to present as a girl full-time, I wanted it to be on _my_ terms.”

Her eyes fell to the middle distance, the hand not on Morgana’s back starting to tighten its hold on the chair’s armrest. “Being trans is hard. I’m glad I figured out that I am, but it hurts. It’s so much work and money and headache just to try to get somewhere that you might never reach. But I got to Tokyo, and I met you all, and I was just a _girl_ to you. I was _normal._ And I want to believe that I would’ve come out to you on my own, eventually. That I would’ve worked up the courage. But I never got the chance, and it still hurts.”

She caught her bottom lip between her teeth, stifling a quavering breath. Morgana’s paws kneaded into her thigh, and she forced herself to untense her muscles.

_Breathe._

“I wanted to take control of my life for once. I wanted to be my own person and decide how _I_ wanted to live and how to express myself, and he took that away, and I know it wasn’t for very long but--” She choked, then, on the words pouring from her heart. But she was almost to the end of this, and _damn it,_ she was going to get there. “But it hurts, and it sucks, and I’m not over it, and it feels selfish of me to still be hurting when you all dealt with him for so much longer, but I am.”

It was only once her outpouring finished that she realized she couldn’t see out of her glasses anymore, tear-stained as they were. She pushed them up gently, delicately, wiping at her eyes with her fingers. “Sorry,” she croaked with a wry smile. “I know that was… a lot.”

“Don’t be sorry.” Morgana pushed his head into her palm before turning to meet her gaze. “You went through something awful. We’re a team, right?” She nodded carefully, and startled a bit when he stood up on his hind legs, placing his front paws on her shoulders and leaning in for what must be an approximation of a hug. “Then rely on us.”

Akiza froze for a second, then smiled, placing a hand gently on Morgana’s back. “I will,” she whispered. “I will.”

“He outed me, too.” Akiza’s head snapped up at the sound of Ann’s voice breaking the silence that fell in the wake of her venting. The other girl looked shaky in her seat, taking a deep breath before continuing with a quaver in her voice. “Well, sort of. I was pushing back on his advances and he started rumors that I’d sleep with anyone, boy or girl. People calling you a pervert freak behind your back… it starts to get to you. I don’t even know whether he actually knew I was pan, or just wanted to mess with me and happened to be right.” Akiza watched her grip tighten on Shiho just slightly, and how Shiho pressed into her in response, and the sight brought a piercing joy alongside the ache. “So… I at least kinda get it. Wanting to do it your own way, and having that taken away.”

Ryuji’s hand hesitantly found its way to the armrest Ann was leaning on, a sympathetic look in his eyes. Ann’s soft little smile drew one from the blond as she laid a hand over his.

“God, that sucks,” Akiza sighed, wicking the last few tears out of her eyes. “Coming out just sucks in general, mostly.”

“That’s pretty much why I never did.” Shiho mumbled a bit behind the cuff of her hoodie. “Until I was like, fourteen, I thought it was just _normal_ to like boys and girls at the same time. Other kids making jokes made me realize.” She let out a shaky, breathy laugh, and Ann squeezed her a little tighter. “You all know I’m a doormat, so I just let myself think I was weird. I only told Ryuji because he figured it out.”

“First, y’ain’t a doormat. Second, ya didn’t exactly make it hard,” he said, prompting Shiho to stick her tongue out at him. A good-natured noogie from Ann got them all laughing again, and Ryuji slumped back into his seat. “Seriously though, it was _super_ obvious that you and her liked each other. ‘Least, I thought so. ‘Specially with _both_ of ya talkin’ to me all the time about how _pretty she is, oh Ryuji her eyes are so nice and her hair smells so--_ ”

The poor boy was cut off by a rushing pounce from Shiho, whose hands found his sides with haste. “You forgot, Ryuji,” she shouted as he convulsed with laughter beneath her. “I know you’re ticklish!”

Akiza couldn’t help the huge grin that split her face at the sight, sharing a mirthful look with Ann as they watched him thrash and cackle. There was a moment of understanding that passed between them then, a mutual appreciation of the uncomplicated joy on display.

“A- _haa ha fuck,_ a-all right you f-freakin’ gremlin, enough!” The boy’s hands found his way under Shiho and, with a yelp, she soon found herself being held by a standing Ryuji, wiggling in his grip with a grin on her face as he dumped her back on the couch with Ann.

“Wow Ryuji, never would have pegged you for the ticklish type. I’ll keep that in mind.” Akiza snarked from her chair, casually petting Morgana as if she were some B-tier supervillain. The smile quickly fell from her face when Ryuji strode over to where she sat. “Whoa, Ryuji, what-- _eep!_ ”

Morgana tumbled from Akiza’s lap with a yowl as Ryuji hauled her out of the chair, heedless of her squirming. Akiza very quickly became aware of how _close_ Ryuji was, the cadence of his breathing after enduring Shiho’s onslaught, the seemingly effortless way he could just pick her up like _nothing--_

And then she snapped out of her thoughts as she, too, was dumped on the couch alongside the other girls, now themselves cackling at her plight. As soon as she sat up, Shiho pivoted in her spot, leaning her back more against Ann and throwing her legs across Akiza’s lap, while Ryuji sat down on Akiza’s other side and slung an arm around her shoulders.

“U-um,” she stuttered, fixing her glasses and trying to fight the flush rising to her cheeks. “Guys?”

“You okay?” Ann was presently undoing Shiho’s ponytail, running her hands gently through the dark locks. “You look kinda spooked. Ryuji, you can’t just do that without warning!”

“Shiho was cool with it!”

“Yeah, but I’ve known you for years! I like when you carry me around!” Shiho crossed her arms defiantly, fake-frowning at him. “You’ve known her for, like, a few weeks!”

“It’s okay,” Akiza managed. “I was just, um. Surprised.”

“How do _you_ like it?” Morgana grumbled as he hopped up onto the couch, choosing Shiho’s lap as his new seat after a moment (he sniffed her hand carefully beforehand, of course). “You pick me up and carry me around all the time! It’s undignified!”

Akiza looked over at Morgana for a moment, becoming steadily more aware of the arm around her shoulders because _oh god that’s Ryuji he put his arm around me does that mean he likes me oh jeez relax breathe chill_. Her gaze turned over to him, watching as he fumbled with the TV remote. “Is, um, should I not…?”

He began to lift his arm for a moment, and Akiza was nearly ashamed of how quickly she answered “It’s okay!” and put his arm right back where it had been. From the corner of her eye, she could swear she saw Shiho give Ann a look of some kind, but the physical contact with Ryuji was making her brain too haywire to process it.

The group settled into a comfortable silence, between whatever was on TV and the inevitable distractions of Twitter and Instagram feeds. Akiza thumbed idly at her phone as she settled more comfortably into her seat, fixing her skirt and, after working up her nerve, leaning more against Ryuji, her head on his shoulder. Her eyes found the MetaNav’s icon and, just next to it, the messaging app she’d used to join the chat room (affectionately titled “The Gender Blender”) that had been one of her lifelines for so long. The red notification signalled unread messages, and it was for the first time then that she realized she hadn’t checked them since her first day of school.

As she opened the app, she was surprised to see not only her chat rooms, but also several DMs from people whose usernames she recognized from them. Several well-wishes and notes of concern, and a single message that caught her eye more than the others.

_> Orlando_Furioso: Hello. I’m sorry for the message. We’re all waiting to hear from you. I can try to help, if something has happened._

Akiza bit her lip, trying to push the smile down so as not to look like a total idiot. The stiffly-formatted nature of the message was one of its sender’s little quirks, and she’d always felt at ease talking with the boy who insisted on typing that way. A couple quick updates were posted in the smaller channels, apologizing for her absence and assuring everyone that she was fine and, in fact, doing better than ever. She resolved to message “Orlando” later with more details but set her phone aside for the time being, leaning into Ryuji’s side a bit more and being rewarded by his arm squeezing a bit tighter around her shoulders.

“This is… nice.” Shiho’s voice was quiet, but it still drew everyone’s attention. “After, um, _stuff_ happened, part of me was afraid that I’d never get to do something like this again. Like I’d been… I dunno. _Tainted,_ somehow.” She breathed in, closing her eyes as she held it for a second, then letting it out slowly. Ann adjusted her position a bit, going back to playing with Shiho’s hair. “I know it’s dumb, I know it’s not true, but it’s still been eating at me for a while.”

“I get it,” Ann murmured. “I really do. Every time he’d ogle me or put his hands on me, it made me want to go scrub myself raw. Clean him off me, y’know?”

Akiza picked at the hem of her skirt. “I know I do. It only happened to me a couple times, but I get it.” A pause, full of considerations on what to say, how to say it. “Before I started presenting, I’d always imagined something like that would be bad, but I didn’t understand how it’d feel. How it _lingers._ ”

They sat in the silence for a minute, and the kinship Akiza felt with Ann and Shiho in that moment felt warm, despite the circumstances. Ryuji squeezed her just a little tighter.

“I just can’t stop thinkin’ about all the shit I can’t do now ‘cause of him,” Ryuji added after a moment. “It ain’t just the track thing. I can’t get part-time work ‘cause I can’t stand for long enough. Sometimes if I’m havin’ a bad pain day, I gotta literally drag myself up the stairs to my apartment. And every time I gotta show my stupid disability train pass, I just feel pathetic.”

Akiza laid a hand over Ryuji’s, and met his gaze hesitantly. His big brown eyes were all too expressive, and the hurt and anger rolling through him was plain to see. He bit his lip after a second and looked away, seemingly unable to handle the eye contact in his present state. He didn’t let go of Akiza.

The silence that hung in the air after that wasn’t exactly comfortable, but nor was it uncomfortable. It just sort of… _existed,_ Akiza supposed, charged with the hurts they’d all shared. They’d avoided giving each other much verbal reassurance, but the solidarity, the unity, the sharing of the burden made it all a little easier.

“We should probably be getting back soon,” Shiho said after a moment, stretching out across the length of the couch. “Trains are gonna start closing up soon.”

Akiza made an affirmative hum, already plotting out her route back to Yongen when Ann spoke up.

“You could stay here tonight. All of you, I mean.”

Akiza looked up from her phone blinking, finding the others doing the same. “What, like, a sleepover?”

“W-well, um, yeah. It’s just that, well…” Ann touched her fingertips together, seemingly struggling to find the words. Akiza watched her close her eyes, and for the briefest instant, she thought she saw Carmen’s hand on Ann’s shoulder. “I’m just feeling shaken right now, after everything, and I’d rather not be alone all night. A-and I care about you guys, you’re important to me. I just… I like having you guys around. You make me feel safe.”

Something in Ann’s eyes, the fragility in her voice, made Akiza’s heart swell. A little smile tugged at her lips, and the little prickling behind her eyes told her to focus on not losing it again. _Ugh, I cry about everything now._

“Uh, yeah, I’m sure my Ma’s cool with it, but I ain’t got clothes here.” Ryuji straightened up a bit, finally pulling his arm off Akiza’s shoulders to retrieve his phone from his pocket, and she nearly had to physically stop herself from pouting at the loss of touch.

“I’ve got tons of clothes for sleeping in, you guys can just borrow some and I’ll wash your clothes for tomorrow.” Ann’s answer was almost a verbal shrug. “We used to do that when we were kids, right?”

“Well, yeah, but-- ah, whatever, that works.” Akiza couldn’t help but snicker at Ryuji’s capitulation to Shiho’s puppy-dog eyes. “What about you guys?”

“I’m pretty sure my parents would give Ann their credit card numbers if she asked. They'll be fine. You, Akiza?” Shiho stretched out along the couch again, legs lifting off Akiza’s lap before plopping back down again.

“Um, I’ll call Sojiro. I think he’ll be okay with it? We have tomorrow off for Golden Week anyway.” She chewed her lip for a moment, looking up at Ann. “Are you sure it’s okay for me to wear your stuff?”

The blonde’s brow furrowed at her. “What? Yeah, of course! It’s all oversized shirts and sweatpants and stuff, it’s totally fine. I’m pretty sure we’ve got spare futons in the linen closet, too.”

Akiza smiled again, letting out a huff of laughter. “Okay,” she said. She felt herself relax again, leaning on Ryuji and letting her eyes close for a moment. Something about being not just accepted, but _wanted,_ being a source of safety and comfort, tugged at her heartstrings. Like a thread connecting her to them that she could reach out and touch.

“Alright!” Ann clapped her hands together with a smile, pulling out her phone. “Where are we getting takeout from?”

* * *

**Ryuji**

yo me n mona r comin back with the pizza do yall need anythin from the konbini

**Ryuji**

...

**Ryuji**

yo you there???

**Ann**

cant talk, doing hot girl shit!!!

**Akiza**

Wet nail polish, you know how it is

**Ryuji**

oh so everythin ive heard about girls sleepovers is true then huh

**Ryuji**

we talked about feelings n now youre doin each others nails

**Shiho**

yeah, hurry back or else we'll get to the part where we start kissing each other :D

**Akiza**

No don't hurry, i wanna taste shiho's chapstick

* * *

“Oh my _god_ he’s probably gonna trip and faceplant when he sees that!” Ann flopped back onto her bed, feet kicking as she cackled. Red-faced as Akiza was at the current activity (“Let’s Tease Ryuji Hour,” according to Shiho), she couldn’t help but join in the laughter, covering her mouth with one hand as she waited for Ryuji to respond.

“Told you it’d be fun.” Shiho’s cheshire smile was unmatched as she sat proudly next to Ann. “It’s super easy to make him blush, but you gotta do it smartly to get the best impact.”

“I’m almost concerned by how devious you are,” Akiza said with a wry grin. “You might put us Phantom Thieves out of a job if you used your talents for good.”

“Mm, nope! I am strictly a girl of mischief.” Shiho put a hand to her chest dramatically, raising her gaze to the middle distance as she spoke. “The troublemaker is a vital part of every friend group, and I take my role very seriously!”

Her grin shifted from proud to giddy, though, as Ann rose, still giggling, and wrapped Shiho up in her arms. Akiza had noted since Shiho’s release that Ann only ever put her hands on Shiho in very particular ways; always palm-first, never in a way where Shiho couldn’t see it coming, always from within Shiho’s line of sight. It didn’t take a genius to piece together the reasons why, and it warmed Akiza’s heart to see Ann’s attentiveness in action.

“She’s always been like this,” Ann explained as she gave Shiho a light squeeze, garnering a happy squeak from the smaller girl that made Akiza’s heart soar. “You wanna know how we met? She came up to me in art class in middle school and told me, my painting sucked.”

“Oh _wow,_ yeah, that’s not subtle.” Akiza’s eyes narrowed just slightly, putting on her best Joker smile at Shiho. “Pulling pigtails right away, huh?” Shiho actually blushed slightly at that, smiling lopsidedly.

“I guess, looking back, it kinda was, yeah. I thought she was really pretty and I walked up to her before I’d even figured out what I was gonna say.” She giggled and turned her head, burying her face in Ann’s shoulder. “Teasing is how I express affection, I guess.”

“Poor Ryuji,” Ann added. “Two pretty girls hanging out with him any chance they got, and the price he had to pay was some light shenanigans.” She paused for a minute, then turned to Akiza with a grin. “Well, three pretty girls now.”

_Huh???_

Akiza froze. _Okay,_ she thought. _Right. Ann called you pretty. She thinks you’re a pretty girl. Do not panic. Smile and laugh and move on._

“R-right,” Akiza stammered. “I don’t, um. Know if I belong in that category really, but I’ll take it, haha.” _God DAMNIT Kurusu, take the compliment!!_

“Oh you totally do!” Ann perked up with a light clap of her hands, and Akiza had the sinking feeling that she was about to be, god forbid, _praised_. “The curly hair is super cute, and your cheekbones are really nicely defined! Plus your eyes are crazy intense, but the glasses offset them enough to make them cool without being too intimidating. You’re super pretty!”

Shiho nodded next to her, and Akiza was, at that moment, one hundred percent sure she was going to die. She was sitting in Ann’s room, on Ann’s bed, wearing Ann’s clothes (that still smelled like her!!), being told by Ann and her girlfriend that she, Akiza Kurusu, was “super pretty.”

“U-um,” Akiza squeaked. “Okay. Um, that is, uh, thanks! F-for saying that.” The only thing stopping Akiza from hiding her face in the oversized sweatshirt Ann had lent her was the knowledge that the other girls would surely find that adorable.

“Ryuji thinks so too,” Shiho casually mentioned after a moment. “He’s got a huge crush on you.”

_What--_

“No he doesn’t,” Akiza said reflexively, because the alternative was too much to even imagine. “No way. That can’t be true.” She laughed to herself, mouth behind her hand, at the sheer, unbelievable ridiculousness of the idea.

“He totally does!” Shiho leaned forward, heedless of Ann’s starry-eyed wonderment at what she’d just said. “He came to my place the other night asking for romantic advice because he wasn’t sure how to approach you. And, if my eyes are working right, is it safe to say you like him?”

_Fuck. Fuck. What? Oh god._

“I, um.”

“C’mooooon, spill!” Ann’s smile threatened to split her face in two. “Girl talk is one of the most important parts of a sleepover, and crush talk is one of the prime topics!”

“W-well, I…” _Breathe. Breathe. You’re safe here,_ she reminded herself. _Okay. So what if it’s obvious you like Ryuji? Look at Shiho right now. Relaxed brow, neutral smile. She’s not gonna make fun of you. Ann’s too earnest to. They don’t think it’s a joke. This is… girl talk._ “Y-yeah,” she breathed after a few moments. “Yeah, I like Ryuji too.”

“ _Aaaah_ oh my god you two would be so cute together!” Ann practically _squealed_ at that, and Akiza felt her life flash before her eyes as Ann lunged at her and grabbed her in a bone-crushing hug.

“Ann-- Ann, lungs!” The blonde released her death grip, leaving Akiza to catch her breath again (and lament the loss of Ann’s touch, but that was a separate issue). “God, okay. Yeah.”

Something about having it out in the open made the idea feel so much more real, so much heavier in her mind. _I like Ryuji and Ryuji likes me back_ sat like a dam in a river, holding everything else back and demanding that other thoughts deal with it first. “I don’t… I don’t even know how that would work,” she mumbled, folding her knees up against her chest and leaning into her sleeve. “I’ve never been in a relationship before. People… people like me have a lot of trouble with dating,” she explained, letting the details go unsaid. “I’d have no idea what to do.”

“I mean, neither did we.” Shiho’s calm, steady voice tugged her out of her thought-spiral, meeting the other girl's dark eyes. “Me and Ann never dated other people before we got together. And, I mean, I can’t speak to your stuff, but I think that’s just kinda how relationships go. You help each other.” She leaned a bit more into Ann, perhaps unconsciously, and visibly relaxed more as Ann’s arms encircled her again.

 _What if that was Ryuji_ , Akiza allowed herself to think. _What if it could be like before, and I could just… lean on him? Hug him? **Kiss** him?_ The heat that rose to her face at the mere _thought_ of being so lucky made her heart beat double-time. Her mind flashed back to the Palace, standing over the Shadow’s form, Ryuji clinging to her and weeping into her shoulder.

“What… what should I do?” Akiza found that her voice was small, crowded out by all the other thoughts spinning around the central core of _Ryuji likes me._ If, miracle of miracles, she were to somehow get together with Ryuji, her other crushes would definitely fade away into friendship.

...Right?

“You gotta be direct with Ryuji,” Ann said confidently. “Don’t beat around the bush or he won’t get it. “

“And it’s gonna have to be you that speaks up first, probably. He’s really, really nervous about this, and if I know him, he’s gonna shove this down and not deal with it until someone makes him deal with it.” Shiho leaned forward, laying a hand on Akiza’s knee. “You’ll be okay. I promise.”

“Mhm, same here.” Ann placed her hand over Shiho’s. “You won’t know until you try.”

“Right,” Akiza breathed, and a smile crept onto her face as the sounds of Ryuji opening the front door filtered up the stairs. “Thanks.”

* * *

Clickclickclickclackclickclackclickclack--

The wise Alibaba’s ears perked up at the audio feed trickling through one of her many all-seeing eyes.

Ah, the bug on the new girls’ phone. The thing must have been propped up on a charging pad; there was some video footage, but the dim light of the new girl’s friend’s house at half past 1 AM made it difficult to distinguish anything.

_Where the hell is the gamma setting?_

Ah, found it! Turn that up, get a better look, and…

The wise and all-knowing Alibaba made an _eep!_ sound and force-closed the bug’s feed as she caught a glimpse of lips brushing together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Rabbit:** Sorry about the delays! There's been a lot going on in my life, between graduation and moving and various other things, and the fic unfortunately had to fall by the wayside for a bit. But no longer! I'm energized and excited and ready to jump back into this passion project and see it through.
> 
> Of note is that Audible is stepping down as co-author as of this chapter. I'm super grateful for their assistance thus far and encourage you to go [check out their work](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AudibleEllipsis/pseuds/AudibleEllipsis), they have some great things in the works!
> 
> Following on from that, I'd like to formally welcome Turandot as the new editor for this project!
> 
> Thanks so much for reading and sticking with it, take care of yourselves and each other <3


	12. Boys And Girls of 2018 And Everything In Between

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content Warning: None today!  
> Today's Chapter Title: [Boys And Girls Of 2018 And Everything In Between](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2hIjAOaHBA)

The tranquil sounds of a piano rose to her ears, and Akiza awoke in a place she was growing accustomed to.

 _Dang, I didn’t wear socks,_ Akiza thought ruefully. Swinging her legs off the cot, she braced herself for the cold bite of the concrete… and was surprised to find it warmer. Still cold, but now just chilly, rather than freezing.

“Hey, Lavenza.” Akiza padded out into the central area of the Velvet Room, waving at the small girl, who curtsied with a smile.

“Good evening, Trickster,” she said. “Thank you for joining us.”

“My apologies for calling on you during this gathering of your allies.” Igor rolled a hand from his seat at his desk, gesturing at nothing in particular. “There is but a brief matter to discuss before you return to your rest.”

“Is it about the Palace?” Akiza hazarded that it probably wasn’t anything else; Igor and Lavenza seemed to be in the habit of not telling her things that weren’t immediately relevant.

“Indeed. We wish to congratulate you on your first successful venture.” Igor nodded in her direction, and Akiza couldn’t help but preen just a bit under the praise. “To change the heart of one unable to change themself is no easy task, and you have accomplished it handily.”

“In addition, you have made great strides in deepening your relationships with those closest to you.” Lavenza opened her book to somewhere in the middle, gloved finger tracing down the page over several images. “When last we spoke, the arcana open to you included the Magician, Empress, Hierophant, Lovers, and Chariot. Since then, you have opened your heart to the Moon and Sun as well.”

“Moon and Sun… Mishima and Shiho?” Akiza still wasn’t entirely sure of the significance of tarot cards in her personal relationships, but she had felt the genuine tug-tugging insistence of the Personas that inhabited her soul whenever one found its matching arcana among her circle of friends.

Lavenza nodded with a smile, answering Akiza’s question as Igor spoke again.

“However, I caution you against complacency, Trickster. The coming ruin is vast, and nothing less than the pinnacle of your ability will suffice.”

Akiza blinked. “The coming ruin? Do I get to know what that is?”

“It will reveal itself in time, and the form it takes will be most unexpected. It, however, is not a problem to be solved immediately.” Akiza pinched the bridge of her nose as Igor’s words sunk in. He’d mentioned something like this the first time they’d spoken, something about how the “shape of the world” would change, and he’d called this all a game a few times.

“How much control do I have here? Realistically,” she asked. If she was going to be part of some grand design with names like “the coming ruin” being thrown around, she wanted to at least get a sense of where she stood.

“I will be blunt,” Lavenza said, closing her book again and tucking it under her arm. “Your chances of winning are almost none. The deck is stacked against you in almost every way it can be. However,” she interrupted, noting the expression on Akiza’s face. “Your greatest weapons are your agency and your bonds, and through them, you may seize victory.”

Akiza rolled that around in her head, suddenly feeling as if the stakes had been raised in this “game” of Igor’s. Or, perhaps, she was simply becoming more aware of the stakes that had existed all along. She thought back to the first time she’d heard Julie’s voice, down in the prison below Kamoshida’s castle.

_**The world is stacked against you, and you have the chance to defy it.** _

“There is yet work to be done, Trickster.” Igor’s voice intoned at her again, and she turned her gaze to meet his unblinking one. “Will you continue to walk the path?”

 _Work to be done,_ Akiza mused. _Hearts to change, people to help, treasure to steal. And ruin to avoid, apparently._

“Of course,” she answered with a lopsided grin. “We’ve got a job to do.”

“Then I shall continue to observe you, and mark your growth into a most excellent Thief.” Igor nodded once, and the tell-tale sensation of being pulled through the floor alerted Akiza to the end of this meeting.

“One more thing,” she managed. “How can I find you again, if I need to talk?”

“Worry not, Trickster. You will not have trouble finding us.” Lavenza curtsied with an enigmatic smile, and Akiza just barely had it in her to wave before she blacked out.

* * *

_Tuesday, 5/3_

Morning came quietly, nudging Akiza’s eyelids open just as soon as she left the Velvet Room. Not for the first time, she was thankful that her visits didn’t prevent her from getting a full night’s sleep. Instinctively, she moved to sit up, reaching blindly for her glasses and phone, and froze when she met resistance.

To her left, Ryuji, still snoring softly, held onto her arm with both hands.

 _Oh,_ she thought. _That’s right._

Memories of last night shoved their way to the front of her mind; hushed confessions and whispered questions, fingers tracing the line of her jaw up towards her ear, _Ryuji’s_ hand cradling her face, Ryuji asking _can I kiss you,_ and Akiza’s own disbelieving, near-tearful _yes_. She remembered distinctly the smell of his breath as their faces drew near, still a little bit minty from the toothpaste Ann had given them. His hair between her fingers wasn’t quite as soft as she’d imagined night after night, but she supposed bleach would do that.

And _oh,_ the way her cheek had fit into his palm, the way he’d brushed her bangs out of her eyes with his other hand, the way he’d whispered _is this okay,_ the way she’d nearly cried at the contact-- they’d touched before, held hands, hugged. But this was different. This was everything she’d wanted, everything she’d known that she’d never have.

Then he’d asked the question, and she’d said yes, heart hammering in fear and delight, and their lips met, and he was so _warm,_ and...

“Mornin’,” Ryuji mumbled next to her, eyes barely cracking open. Seemingly unconsciously he curled a little tighter around her arm, and Akiza thought she might die right then. “Y’r up early.”

How was it fair that Akiza was allowed to see this? To see Ryuji’s face as he first woke up, watch him gradually open his eyes, and see him look up at _her?_ This was never supposed to happen, right? Did she deserve this?

“Oh, shoot, sorry.” He released his grip on her arm, pink rising to his cheeks, and Akiza suppressed the urge to whimper at the loss of his warmth. Her eyes tracked across him as he stretched with a muffled groan, popping some joints. “What time is it?”

Akiza blinked herself out of her reverie, fumbling for her phone that she’d left charging on the stand last night and showing Ryuji the display that read _7:32 AM._ She glanced to the side, finding Shiho and Ann sharing the other futon and Morgana curled up on the couch, belly rising and falling slowly.

“Should we, um,” she began, whispering around the nervousness in her throat. “Talk? About last night?”

“Oh, uh. Yeah. Yeah, probably. Uh, kitchen?” Ryuji seemed to trip over his words as he mumbled them, and it only endeared him to Akiza more. She nodded, and together they rose and padded across the cool floor and into the adjacent room, careful not to wake the others.

“You drink coffee, yeah? Pretty sure Ann keeps some around.” His voice was a bit louder now, no longer whispering, but still low as he searched through cupboards. Akiza glanced over the countertop, eyes catching on an instant coffee machine.

“I think I’m good, actually,” she said with a smile. “Sojiro’s kinda ruined coffee for me. I can feel myself turning into a snob.”

“Okay, cool. I dunno how to use the coffee maker anyway.” He grinned over his shoulder at her, and Akiza had to stifle a laugh to save Ann and Shiho and Morgana’s sleep. He leaned against the counter, looking at her with a face somewhere between indecision and nervousness, and Akiza joined him after a moment. She settled next to him, a few inches of space between; she wanted so, so badly to lean into his side, to feel his arm around her waist, but she didn’t know where he was with the whole “touching” thing yet. The only thing that made her more nervous than the idea of Ryuji being genuinely into her was the idea of making him uncomfortable.

“So, uh.” Ryuji spoke up after a moment where neither of them could find their voices. “I guess everything’s all out in the open now, huh?”

“Yeah. Shiho’s a good wingwoman.” Akiza grinned a little at Ryuji’s flustered expression, then, and she was very grateful for the humor’s work at tamping down the slow simmer of anxiety filling her.

“She _told_ you? Aw man, I told her not to…” The dark-haired girl could only laugh softly at his indignation, and this time it actually did make her heart feel a bit lighter.

“She said there was no way you’d get it unless I came right out and confronted you about it. So I figured I had to be the one to say it first.” Akiza’s feet shifted a bit on the kitchen’s tile floor. _The Velvet Room was warmer than this,_ she thought idly. As she adjusted, she inched just a little closer to Ryuji, who didn’t move away.

“That… that makes sense,” he groaned. “That sounds like the kind of dumb shit I’d do. I just didn’t wanna like, scare you off, y’know?” Akiza tilted her head, one eyebrow raised, and Ryuji gesticulated a bit. “I just… I really like you, and I know you’ve got a lotta stuff goin’ on that I don’t get all the way, and I didn’t wanna hurt you.” A deep breath, eyes closed, a shaky exhale. “There’s a bunch of people that got hurt ‘cause I did somethin’ dumb. I didn’t want you to be one of ‘em.”

Oh, Akiza’s heart _ached._

“Ryuji,” she breathed. “You could never. I’ve… I’ve never trusted anyone as much as I do you guys. And even if you did, I know you’d do anything to try to make it right. Besides, I…” Akiza felt the words stall in her mouth. Her mind could feel the shape of them, the thorny thing in her heart, but she couldn’t give them form. She felt her hands clench, arms starting to ache from the continuous tension they’d been under since this conversation began.

“You okay?” And Ryuji, of course, noticed. “You’re shakin’. C’mon, sit down over here.” Akiza stared dumbly at the floor as he took her hand in his, steering her over to the little dining table and guiding her into the seat before sitting down next to her.

“It’s just… a lot,” she breathed, forcing herself to untense her muscles. “I’ve never told anyone I liked them before, y’know? Much less had them feel the same.” She swallowed air, trying to center herself. The comfort of Julie’s wings was nowhere to be found.

“I get that,” Ryuji admitted. “I ain’t ever dated anyone either. Hell, last night was the first time I ever kissed somebody for real. And it’s kinda scary, thinking about it, but I wanna try, if you wanna. You’re really c-cool, and nice, and p-pretty, and stuff.”

Akiza couldn’t hold back a single, breathy laugh. Ryuji was clearly no better at talking about emotions than she herself was, but his floundering was endearing. “If you say so,” she sighed, referring to his compliments. “I usually can’t imagine myself as anything more than an anxious mess, but you’ve literally saved my life a few times now, so I basically have to believe you.” The smirk that grew on her face was natural, reflexive, the standard accompaniment to self-deprecation. It faltered when Ryuji didn’t return the joke.

“Hey, c’mon, don’t get yourself down like that.” He laid a hand over hers gently, careful not to be too rough. “I ain’t joking, I really do think that stuff. I like you for a reason, y’know?”

 _Right,_ Akiza thought. _Ryuji wouldn’t lie. He has to be telling the truth._ The logical reassurance made sense to her brain, but failed to quell the uncertainty in her heart.

“I’ll… I believe you,” she eventually replied. “It might be hard for me to remember sometimes, but I’ll try.” Akiza turned her gaze to Ryuji’s big, beautiful, concerned-puppy eyes, and she managed a weak smile. “I promise, I’ll try.”

“Good,” he breathed. “That makes me real happy.” His smile was, of course, brighter than the sun, and it pulled Akiza’s mood up just a bit, all by itself.

The clock ticked by, counting seconds and heartbeats as the pair marinated in the silence.

“So, uh…” Akiza was the one to speak first, eyes flicking back and forth between Ryuji and the table. “Do we… are we dating?”

“Um.” He blinked, a dusting of pink coating his cheeks. “I-I’m down if you are? That sounds, uh, g-great.” The flush on his face was clear and bright, and just seeing it drew a smile from Akiza.

“Yeah,” she murmured. “Yeah, I’d love that.”

Ryuji let out a single, breathy laugh, then another. “H-hey, um,” he whispered. “C-can I kiss you again?”

Akiza’s eyes fluttered closed as her heart swelled, joy indelible for the moment. “Of course.”

Their lips met, and met again, and met again. Distantly, Akiza heard the sounds of the others waking up.

* * *

“Ann, you’re using too many blueberries! Y’ain’t gotta put ‘em all in one pancake, damnit!”

“My house, my food! I’ll put as many blueberries in my pancake as I want!”

“Hey, be careful with that sticky stuff, I don’t want it in my fur!”

“They’re always like this when they cook together,” Shiho explained. The two dark-haired girls sat idly at the kitchen table, observing bemusedly as the blondes bickered over pancake batter. Morgana sat perched on a chair nearby, nosing through the recipe book and shouting out instructions. “We got kicked out of home ec in middle school more than once.”

“I can’t imagine why.” Akiza grinned, chin resting in her palm as she watched them rush this way and that way, Ryuji standing over the griddle and passing pancakes off to Ann as they finished. “I didn’t know Ryuji could cook.”

“He cooks for his mom a lot.” Shiho sipped at the instant coffee that Ann had produced for her, and which Akiza had taken a single, regretful sip of. “She works really long hours at the hospital, so he likes to let her come home to nice food.”

“Oh my _god,_ that’s so sweet.” Akiza heaved a breathy, contented sigh at that. _That’s my boyfriend,_ she thought, for the twentieth time. _Ryuji is my **boyfriend.** _

“So,” Shiho began, setting her mug down. “You’ve been making doe-eyes at Ryuji all morning. Wanna tell me about that?”

Akiza had expected Shiho to notice quickly; the other dark-haired girl was _very_ perceptive about these kinds of things, apparently. She’d _also_ expected to be a lot more nervous about the idea of telling Shiho. But, she supposed, she’d already come out to her. This was nothing, by comparison.

“We, uh, kissed. Last night.” She spoke in hushed tones, so as not to distract Ann during the pancake assembly process. “I told him I liked him after you guys fell asleep, and we just… kissed. We talked about it this morning before you woke up, and… and we’re dating now.”

The smile that crossed Shiho’s face was wide and bright as she leaned in for a hug. “Congrats,” she whispered. “I’m really happy for you.”

“This only happened because of you, y’know.” They separated after a moment, Akiza tucking a stray bang behind her ear. “I would never have told him if you hadn’t told me he liked me.”

Shiho had a shrug and a mirthful grin to offer. “Troublemaker, remember?”

* * *

Morning ticked on, Ann screamed for joy when Akiza and Ryuji shyly told her about their newfound relationship and, devoid of any meaningful plans for Golden Week, they inexorably found themselves idling in Shibuya.

“Oh hey, y’know what? This is kinda like a double date,” Ann observed from around a mouthful of crepe. They’d taken over a table outside a cafe near Central Street, a quick walk away from the airsoft shop where Akiza had pawned the fake Olympic medal off to the shady-yet-unquestioning owner. Fake though the medal was, thirty thousand yen was nothing to sneeze at.

“Isn’t any time the four of us hang out a double date, technically?” Akiza, for her part, was sipping on some kind of fruity tea thing that Ann had recommended. “I mean, since we’re two couples?”

“That’d make Morgana like, the fifth wheel. What even has five wheels?” Ryuji grabbed another french fry into his mouth, his chair scooched right up against Akiza’s. “A big trailer truck, I guess?”

“Those usually have eight, I think,” Shiho swiped a bite of crepe from Ann’s plate, chewing thoughtfully for a moment before letting her head thud onto the table with an audible groan. “Ugh, what are we _doing?_ It’s Golden Week and we’re sitting here talking about trucks.”

“We’re Phantom Thieves! We should be celebrating a successful heist!” Morgana chirped from his seat in Akiza’s bag, resting on the table where he could converse with them. “We’ve got a bunch of money to do _something_ with, and a whole city to use it in!”

A resounding silence met the not-cat’s declaration, four bored teenagers stuck in the mire of looking for something to do. Akiza’s roaming gaze landed on a passing pedestrian, decked from head to toe in bright, rainbow-patterned clothes.

“Check out that outfit,” Akiza said as they passed, jerking her chin to indicate. Ann’s eyebrows shot up.

“Wow, okay. ‘Bright colors for spring’ is one thing, but head to toe tie-dye is a _lot._ ” Her eyes shifted at that, looking elsewhere into the crowd with a slight squint. “Is it me, or are there… a _few_ people dressed like that?”

The group turned to look, and Akiza was surprised to find that Ann was right. Dotted throughout the crowd of passersby were people dressed in extravagant outfits and vibrant colors, all looking various levels of excited, heading in roughly the same direction. “Is there some kind of event going on?”

“Looks like it’s Pride,” Shiho answered, already searching on her phone. “It’s up in Yoyogi Park, running all week.”

 _That_ got Akiza’s attention.

“Is it? That’s _this_ week?” Her head snapped around immediately, leaning forward in her seat, eager to hear more. She’d seen people talking about Pride in chatrooms, dreamed of one day being able to go and see this incredible thing, never imagining it’d be so close to where she found herself.

“Yeah, looks like today’s opening day,” Ann answered for her, having pulled up the same page on her phone. Ryuji and Morgana craned their necks to see. “There’s a big festival in the park with booths and events and stuff. We should go!”

“That sounds fun,” Shiho agreed. Her eyebrows perked up, aiming a mischievous grin across the table at Akiza and Ryuji. “What a first date for you two, huh?”

“O-oh,” Akiza mumbled. Ryuji fully clammed up, turning a little pink and busying himself with his soda. “I-I guess so, yeah. That sounds good, if we all want to?”

Ryuji held up a finger as he chugged the rest of his soda, setting the empty bottle back down on the table with a light thud. “I’m down if y’all are! You said Yoyogi, right? That’s like, a ten minute walk from here.”

“Sounds like an appropriate place for celebration,” Morgana declared. “Let’s go!”

“Hey, are you gonna be okay walking that far?” Akiza spoke low to Ryuji as they prepared to leave. He’d been fine moving for long periods in the Palace, but that was in the Metaverse, and she wasn’t about to discount the possibility that the cognitive world made his pain less severe.

“I should be good,” he said. “I keep some painkillers on me just in case. Thanks for checkin’, though.” The smile he gave her wasn’t quite his thousand-watt one, but rather a more reserved, thoughtful one that she hadn’t seen on him yet. “Means a lot.”

“Of course.” Akiza hesitated for a moment as Ann and Shiho began to set off towards the park, hand frozen midway to Ryuji’s. The little thoughts of _is this okay_ picked at her brain for that instant, but were silenced when Ryuji took her hand in his, following behind him as he moved to catch up with the other girls.

* * *

Four hours into Pride, and Akiza’s camera roll had never been so full.

Performers, activists, vendors, and ordinary people filled the park, booths and tables set up all around, bursting with life and joy and, well, _pride._ She took countless photos of the stands, the art, the sights, and, of course, her friends. Too many group selfies to count, and more than she ever imagined she’d take.

Early on in the adventure, they’d stumbled across a table selling hand-made bracelets made from cord, woven from the colors of different pride flags. Obvious to anyone who knew, but not so flashy as to draw attention from those who didn’t. Ann and Shiho had scooped up matching pan ones, all bright pinks and yellows and blues. Akiza hesitated for a minute, warring with herself on whether she felt able to declare such a thing, but the soft blue and pink and white of her own flag won her over.

 _This is Pride, damnit,_ she thought. _Be proud._

Ryuji had shocked the group when, after Akiza had bought a bi flag bracelet for herself to accompany the trans one, the boy had taken one of the pink-purple-blue ones for himself.

“S’not a big deal,” he’d murmured as he handed over the yen to the booth owner. “I like guys too, sometimes.” Akiza had merely taken his hand in hers and, courage welling in her heart, given him a peck on the cheek that set his face ablaze.

Morgana, ever seeking to be a part of things, had fired questions at Akiza about what each flag stood for, and what those names meant. Eventually they’d moved on, Morgana leaning his front paws on Akiza’s shoulder and proudly displaying the yellow-white-purple-black bandanna he’d chosen.

Akiza was _pretty_ sure she’d caught sight of Takemi’s dark-blue bob cut at some point, but couldn’t guarantee it.

Presently the group was gathered around a picnic table to give Ryuji’s leg a break, Shiho having excused herself to find a restroom a few minutes prior.

“Man, I’m super glad we found out this was happening!” Ann’s joyful smile was infectious as always, cheeks adorned with little pan flags done by a face painter they’d found earlier. “I saw events like this back in America and Finland, but I never got to actually go to one.”

“It’s _amazing,_ ” Akiza breathed. And she really meant it; the sights, the sounds, the overwhelming sense that _you are not alone, there are so many others like you_ … all that, combined with the glowing truth of _this is a date with Ryuji, my boyfriend,_ the continual elated joy on Ann and Shiho’s faces, and even Morgana’s excitement at the intricacies of human experience, all wove together in a way that made her heart warm. “I’d only ever heard about stuff like this, I never thought I’d actually be here.”

“It’s pretty sweet,” Ryuji agreed. He hadn’t gone the full face-paint route that the girls had, but the bracelet said all that he wanted it to. “It’s cool to see everybody havin’ a good time and being themselves.”

“This place is fascinating!” Morgana paced in a circle around the table, bandanna still adorning his neck. “I had no idea gender was so varied and complicated!”

“Everyone experiences it differently,” Akiza explained, turning to Ryuji and Ann after a moment. “Morgana didn’t know I was trans until you two found out. He barely even knew what gender _was._ ” Her brow furrowed for a moment at that, looking back down at the elated not-cat. “Hey, how do you want us to refer to you, actually? Pronouns-wise.” She gestured at his bandanna.

Morgana looked down at his accessory, then back up, seemingly deep in thought, before perking up again. “‘He’ is still good! It’s easy, I think? And I still like it, even if I also like being non… not--”

“Nonbinary,” Akiza finished for him, and his grin made her heart swell. He deserved ear scratches for that, which she was all too happy to provide.

“I still don’t totally get it,” Ryuji confessed. “I mean, I get what you said about bein’ something else, I just don’t really understand the stuff outside of guys and girls yet.”

“You will,” Akiza assured, taking his hand in hers. “It’s a different way of thinking, you’ll get used to it.”

“That’s why _I’m_ making a gender all for myself!” Morgana issued a declaration from his mighty perch on Akiza’s shoulder. “So that I don’t have to share with you!”

Ryuji smirked, waving his free hand dismissively. “Yeah, yeah, go be your own thing. More man-gender for me!” The two shared a laugh at that, and Akiza couldn’t help but join in.

They chatted a bit more after that. Akiza was a sentence into a joking rant about gender as a finite resource when they were interrupted.

“Excuse me,” the voice said, low and smooth. “Could I bother you for a moment?”

The trio turned, and at the end of their table stood a boy about their age. _He looks so lanky_ was Akiza’s first thought, the boy a wiry beanstalk with deep blue, silky-looking hair and dark gray eyes. He wore a white collared shirt with a fleur-de-lis emblazoned over his heart, and a key ring hooked to his belt. The total lack of any Pride-related adornments made him stand out more than those dressed in all colors of the rainbow, like a human rendered in monochrome.

“Can we help you?” Ann was the first to speak up. “The bathrooms are over--”

“I caught sight of you three earlier while people-watching, and I’ve been looking for you ever since.” He spoke right over her, pushing on with his statement. “The three of you emanate a passion more intense than any I’ve seen! Please won’t you--”

“Hey, man, hold on a second--” Ryuji held up a hand, moving to stand up, but was cut off again.

“--Be the models for my next art piece!?”

The trio clammed up, and Akiza could swear even Julie raised an eyebrow at that.

“Uhh… excuse me?” Ann was the first to speak after that, prompting the unforeseen boy to plow on ahead.

“My work of late has been lacking in inspiration, but the three of you share an essence that I simply _must_ capture! Please, will you model for me!?” He leaned over the table, one hand supporting himself as the other gesticulated wildly. The sheer _pain_ his face conveyed made Akiza, unbelievably, pretty sure he was telling the truth.

“Who even is this guy!?” Morgana yowled from his place on the table, hackles raised.

“Hey, hang on. Who the hell are you?” Ryuji spoke up, and Akiza felt her attention drawn back to the boy in front of her, rather than just his face. The boy pivoted to meet Ryuji’s gaze, brow furrowed, before seemingly realizing what he’d done and straightening back up.

“Oh, my apologies,” he began. “Where are my manners? My name is Yusuke Kitagawa, a second-year at Kosei High’s fine arts program.”

“Kosei…?” Ann’s whisper was quiet below the general din of the festival, but Akiza picked up on it anyway.

“I study under Ichiryusai Madarame, as his pupil,” he explained. “My aim is to become an artist worthy of one day succeeding him.”

“Wait, hang on. Ain’t Madarame that super famous artist?” Ann gave Ryuji a baffled look at that. “What? Me and my mom like to watch TV together,” he countered. Yusuke smiled softly at the recognition.

“The very same. Sensei is an incredibly accomplished painter, across a variety of styles. Ah, but we’re getting off track,” he added, steering back. “I would be honored if the three of you would consider modelling for me.”

“This is all a bit sudden.” Akiza piped up in an attempt to get the trio out of this situation. “I mean, we’ve never--”

“That won’t be a problem,” Yusuke interjected, to Akiza’s slight dismay. “I’ve worked with first-time models before. Ah, I have an idea.” He reached into the bag slung over his shoulder, rooting around for a moment before procuring three slips of cardstock. “Sensei’s exhibition begins tomorrow, at the address listed on the tickets. I’ll be there opening day to help out. Please, think about the offer, and come see the exhibition for yourselves. We can talk more then.”

“Are you in a rush?” Ann’s head tilted a bit. “I mean, it’s Golden Week. It’s not like school’s going on.”

“I have to help Sensei with some work before the opening tomorrow,” he explained. “Now, please excuse me. I hope to see you three at the exhibit tomorrow.” He bowed slightly with that same soft smile, then turned on his heel and disappeared into the crowd.

“So, uh…” Ryuji began. “That was weird.”

* * *

Shiho rejoined them after Yusuke departed, and was quickly filled in on the bizarre events that had transpired in her absence as the group walked along a row of stands.

“Oh, he goes to Kosei?” Shiho’s brows perked up at the mention of Yusuke’s school. “That’s where I’m transferring to, after Golden Week.”

“Weird coincidence.” Ryuji had taken Akiza’s hand as they walked, lacing their fingers together. Akiza had to fight to keep the delirious smile off her face. “If you run into him, maybe be careful? Hard to tell. I think somethin’s up with him.”

“I’ll be careful,” she replied after a moment of thought. “Are you guys gonna do the modelling thing?”

“I kinda wanna check out the gallery,” Ann submitted. “I think it’d be fun. Plus, didn’t he say his mentor was super famous? How cool would it be to meet someone like that?”

“Couldn’t hurt to look, considering he gave us free tickets.” Akiza’s eyes tracked back and forth across the row of stalls, just taking in the sights before she caught on one in particular and nearly stopped short.

Between two booths stood a little girl in a blue dress, smiling knowingly at her.

Akiza looked back at the group, who seemed completely unaware of Lavenza’s presence.

“You guys go ahead,” she said hastily. “I think I forgot my phone back there.”

The others left her after a moment, leaving her to dash to the girl that she suspected only she could see.

“ _Lavenza?_ ” she sputtered, blinking twice at the young girl in blue who stood before her, very much in the real world and not in the prison inside Akiza’s brain. Heart? Not important. “You’re… here? In the real world?”

“Every world is real, in its own way,” she replied, being characteristically cryptic. “Please, follow me away from the crowd, so that we may converse.”

They moved behind the row of stalls, out of sight from the crowd, taking up a spot under a tree. “So,” Akiza began. “You’re here?”

“Indeed I am,” Lavenza said through a grin. “I wished to inform you that, should the crowds be overwhelming to you, the Velvet Room is open to you as a place of rest.”

“Ooooh,” Akiza hummed. “That’s what you meant about me finding you?”

“Correct. Additionally, my master will be establishing doors to the Velvet Room in opportune locations for you, should you ever need to perform executions or seek aid.” Lavenza knelt on the grass, smoothing out her skirt and laying her tome on her lap. Akiza held up one finger and made to respond before the little girl cut in again. “Worry not, Trickster. I and the doorways will be visible only to you.”

“Right,” Akiza said, lowering her finger. “Alright, that makes about as much sense as anything else you’ve told me.” Lavenza tittered behind a gloved hand.

“Regardless, I wished to make you aware that our door is open, should you require a reprieve.” Her mysterious little smile was endearing in a way that Akiza was growing accustomed to.

“I’m alright, I think. A few months ago I probably would have said yes, but I’m having a great time. Oh!” Akiza clicked her fingers, a thought suddenly occurring to her. “Did you want to come meet the others? Ryuji and Ann and Morgana and Shiho?”

Lavenza’s brow creased for the barest hint of an instant. “...No, I shouldn’t. It’s not my place to interact in that manner anymore.” She looked down and away, seemingly lost in thought.

“Well, Pride is all about embracing getting away from the norm. You could break the rules just a bit.” A piece of Joker’s grin slipped through, and Lavenza seemingly couldn’t help but feel a bit better.

“You truly are leaning into your role as Trickster, I see.” She stood up, smoothing out her skirt and brushing some grass off her stockings. “As much as I appreciate the offer, I must decline. I will not keep you any longer. I wish you well, Trickster. Continue to walk the path, and we will aid you as you require.” She winked with one eye, a finger held over her mouth, and walked to the other side of the tree. When Akiza started after her, she was only barely surprised to find that the little girl had vanished.

 _Oh well,_ she thought. _Better get back to the others._

* * *

When Haru’s father informed her that they’d be making an appearance at a festival in Shibuya today, she hadn’t expected this.

Watching the colors and vibrancy and _life_ on display at Pride from behind the window of the company car was… well. Haru certainly envied the festival-goers a bit.

 _More than “a bit,”_ part of her thought. _You want to be with them. You know you do._

But she quashed that down, focused on preparing herself for the showing she’d be making. Ordinarily she wasn’t invited to many public-facing events, but apparently the board had decided that having a young presence at the event would lend authenticity to Big Bang Burger’s display of allyship.

Not that she believed it would. She knew it all for the deception that it was, vagaries and platitudes in the hope of driving up business.

Such was the way of things.

It was the kind of thing she’d grown accustomed to in recent years, especially as the sword of Damocles that was Sugimura swung ever closer to her head. She was getting very good at pretending, these days.

She expected that she’d be just as numbly content as always to smile and wave through another corporate event as she always was, but towards the end of the appearance, she caught sight of something that made her heart skip.

Among the crowd, she caught a glimpse of thick, dark hair in a high ponytail, cat perched on her shoulder.

Takamaki and Sakamoto were with her, as well as Suzui. But what truly shocked Haru was how _happy_ Akiza looked. Every time they’d met, the other girl had seemed a bit weary, a lot guarded, and just as perceptive as Haru liked to think she herself was. And, crucially, just as good a liar.

But the wide grin, the brightness in her eyes, the way she leaned on Sakamoto, it was like looking at an entirely different, more honest person. And the tightness that seized Haru’s heart at that notion stung her in a way she couldn’t place.

Akiza was a nice girl from school who made excellent coffee and was pleasant company, unaware of Haru’s status or family situation.

 _There’s more to her,_ said that same part of her from earlier. _You know there is. She offered to help, you know._

 _No,_ thought the demure, obedient part of her. _She can’t do anything about this, anyway. Nobody can._

“That’s right,” she whispered to herself that night, staring at the text notification hovering next to Akiza’s icon on her phone. “Nobody can.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> morgana voice: i'm nyanbinary now!!
> 
> And with that, we finally, formally close the books on Kamoshida's Palace! The dates for meeting Yusuke and subsequent events are moved up a bit compared to canon, but it made more sense given future events. 
> 
> Thanks as always to Turandot for helping me polish and refine everything, and thank you for reading! :D


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